Hello AT,
Thanks to Apartment Therapy's awesome Craigslist scavenging skills [Go Molly!], I got a beautiful Victorian couch for a doozy of a deal. When getting estimates to have it reupholstered, I realized that getting a professional to do the job was far out of my price range. However, I have a very talented and wonderful friend who offered to upholster it for me (it's one of his hobbies) after I told him of my expensive reupholstering dilemma...
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Not only did he do a fantastic job, he also had a pile of beautiful leather that he got for free and passed along to me for use on the couch. I told him I would certainly pay him for his time, but we decided to wait until the job was done before we talked money, although I did pay him $200 up front to cover the cost of staples, piping, etc. Now I want to make sure I pay him fairly so that he feels his time was well-spent, but I'm struggling to come up with an amount! I've never really had anything upholstered, let alone by a friend. Here are some more specifics, in case it helps:
- The couch doesn't have springs, thus no "innards" had to be worked on. Also, all original foam inside the couch was able to be re-used without any manipulation.
- He is in between jobs, so I just gave him the keys to my apartment so that he could work on the couch at his leisure. The project has taken about four months from start to finish.
- He used his own compressor nail gun and a mixture of his tools and mine. The piping for the couch was sewn by a local upholsterer.
- He sewed this really kick-ass pocket on the side of the couch to store remotes in.
- I'd say he put about 20-25 man hours on the project.
I know you're not supposed to mix friends with money, but we both thoroughly enjoyed watching the project develop and I have no regrets. I just want to offer him something that will make him feel appreciated.
I'm emailing a picture of the couch pre-upholstery job. I haven't taken post-upholstery pics but can happily snap a few and send them along if they'll help.
Thanks for any input!
All the best,
Kayce
Dear Kayce,
Now this is a great question, and we can't wait to see what answers come in.
From our perspective, money and labor have a lot to do with how rich you all are and what comparable work that your friend might find would pay (for example, if you and your friend are 25 and students your hourly would be a lot different than if you're both 35 with good jobs). Here's the way we'd work through it:
1. You pay for all materials
2. Figure out a comfortable hourly and then multiply it out over the time you thought it took.
for example 20 hours x $20 = $400
3. Look at this number and see if it feels right. If it does add another $50 or so to make sure that you put forward a sense of generosity and keep the friendship on the best possible terms.
4. Also figure that reupholstering a sofa in leather like this would probably cost you @ $1500-$2000, so with your friend you want to make sure that you get a good discount for yourself and a nice pocket of spending money for him.
5. Above all things, remember that your friendship is MUCH more important than money and you may find that you pay your friend more than you expect in order to keep him comfortable. If he really is a friend, this will be worth it.
Although we sometimes hire friends expecting a discount, it doesn't always work out that way. If you want to really bargain, only do that with a professional (not a friend).
Anyone else...?
I think *he* should tell *you* the price that will work for him.
view patrick (the other one)'s profile
P(too) had a great suggestion. But I think you should pay for all the things he paid out of pocket, obviously. I was thinking maybe $500. Though you might give him more since he's a friend and out of work and he did an impressive job ( per your email). I would love to see the after pictures especially with the leather.
view Trumystique's profile
Yup....let him tell you...then bump it up a notch. I just had an easy chair done by a pro, with my own fabric and it ran $500.00, so I'm sure you've got a bargain, but pay your friend his due.
view hdtex's profile
And remember he gave you free materials, too! An acknowledgement of that should be reflected in your payment, like when you get a free drink at a bar but still tip. I really like the idea of agreeing on how many manhours he put in, getting his hourly quote, and then bumping it up a bit yourself.
view Miniature Dance Party's profile
I think that although he got the leather for free, you could let him be the one to profit from that, and pay him for what that leather might be worth.
It really would be great if you coulud both come away from it feeling good about it; think about $1,000 and see how that makes you feel.
I spent about $200 or more for materials for my silver vinyl 3-back chair, and then spent about $1,300 to have it upholstered, but it involved a fair amount of sewing for the upholsterers:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/011707curtistour/curtisinsideout15
Just in case that gives you any idea.
view Curtis's profile
Ditto. Ask him for a ballpark and then add 20% or so if you can. Good luck and I'd love to see the after pics too, it sounds wonderful!
Hey, if your friend's interested in more work, I have a faux Eames Lounge Chair and Ottomanchair that needs reupholstering. What do you think?
view Lourdes's profile
with p(2) on this one. I usually try to pay friends who do work for me whatever their going rate is.
view JonathanB's profile
forgot to say: great find!
view JonathanB's profile
You say you decided to wait until the job was done before you 'talked money' so that would be the right thing to do now. Your friend offered to do it so an hourly rate would be a good idea for his 25 man hours. Give him a good dinner too.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
If your friend goes all shy about money, think about the top amount you would have been willing to stretch your budget to pay a pro, back when you were getting estimates.
view wende in the twin cities's profile
I'd say $900 considering he has at least $700 in labor AND he gave you the leather skins.
view LBhirise's profile
I wish you had posted the after pic too so we could judge the work. Great find. Great friend. Reward him generously.
view peggy's profile
why no pic of the "after" ?
view snot's profile
An antique sofa redone in leather with a pocket for remotes... could there possibly be a more effective prescription for Heterosexual Domestic Harmony?
view Anne in Chicago's profile
I've had plenty of friends do substantial work for me. Totally with letting him set the price (and adding to it, if it seems low based on the professional estimates you got)
BUT
if he's reluctant because you are good friends, there's other ways to go . . . like tickets to something he really wants to go to, or a case of wine, or labor exchange of something [i]you[/i] do that he needs, even if it's shopping and buying something -- I once did someone's IKEA shelving run, much to their delight. But only if he won't accept $.
;)
view guido's profile
we spent about 1300 to have a professional do our couch... dunno what's fair? 50% of that? btw, are you covering it in ponyh hide or a nice lime green pleather?
view chris_94131's profile
Because he's a good friend, he's done it mostly out of kindness, money alone is insufficient (but a good starting would be around $20-$25/hour * 25 hours); accordingly, give him around $625 plus something that requires thought and sentiment, i.e., a homecooked meal or a nice dinner out, a bottle of his favorite wine.
By the way, I have 6 midcentry dining chairs, each with a seat and back cushion that requires reupholstering, would he like additional work?
Cheers
view Leo's profile
Here's what I've done several times in the past when a friend has done work for me with the understanding that he/she will get paid: we discuss the project and all it involved, and then we each take a scrap of paper and write down what we think the finished job is fairly worth. (this part is nerve-wracking and usually leads to weird exclamations and some hilarity.) Then we show what each of us has written down. The deal (in advance) is that the price will be the difference divided by 2 and then added onto the low bid (ie, for a smallish job, one bid is $100 and the other is $200: the difference, $100, is divided by 2 and added onto the $100 = $150). The person who's done the job almost always bids the low figure. So I take the result and add on a bit more to show good will.
Of course, if the doer of the work bids something absurdly low, I stick with my original offer.
But I wouldn't choose this path with a friend with whom I had a shaky relationship!
view Aulaire's profile
I think Leo has made a great point.
How about you pay himw hat you think is fair (whether it's $500 or $1000) and then help him find some more upholstery work?
Make sure you help him to quote those accordingly.
Things like that make it worth while doing work for friends.
view shel's profile
I had a friend who helped me a great deal on my apartment. When I presented him with a "day at the spa" gift card, he felt insulted. "I did it because that is what we do for each other". A lot depends on the nature of your friendship. BTW we removed the "insult" by spending the day at the spa together....we both needed it!
view Mason's profile
I had a very good and well priced upholsterer who did work for me 2 years back. He used to charge me $60 per yard for labor. So, if it took 10 yards to cover a sofa, then he would charge me $600. He would charge a little extra if pattern matching was needed (for striped or patterned fabric). You could figure out the yardage by measuring yourself, or many fabric stores also have charts with sample pictures.
view HP's profile
I agree with all the people saying give him a fair value and something special (nice home cooked dinner, bottle of wine or two, etc.) I have done work for friends before and while the cash is great to have, the little extra thank you is the best part.
view bigcityboy2's profile
Fabulous find!!
view vogue360's profile
You need to pay him enough so that you wouldn't feel guilty asking him to do it again.
view Jon_B's profile
Thank you all so much for this input! I'm just sifting thru these comments and there are many great points. I'm so glad I have a few places to start from now and feel pretty confident that I'll be able to choose a number that expresses my gratitude. Plus, I already have a big ol' homemade dinner planned, so the bases are covered there. ;)
I really love the idea of getting him extra upholstery work (totally didn't occur to me), as I think the project reminded him of how much he enjoys it. I will absolutely inquire about his availability and pass along his info if he's interested.
As for the finished sofa, I'll post the pictures ASAP. Graphite leather with light blue leather piping...mmm...super sexy! Mama's new baby.
Cheers!
view kayce's profile
kayce - what happened with your friend and future work from us readers? :D
I've got some chairs that could use his services!!!
view kmnyc's profile