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The way I see it, you didn't have to pay for the sofa, so the only actual "cost" of the sofa is the upholstery. Like Maxwell said, forget about the value of the sofa. It has great lines, and if you love it and it fits perfectly in your apartment (it looks like it does in the picture!) then you should go for it! You will end up with something unique that you will enjoy for years.

Have you tried Martin Albert or Beckenstein?

Check with Lore (from list above) -- they did a great job on the 2 chairs & footstools in my Living room -- and for less than most couches would cost. Trick is to get your own fabric -- if you're willing to hunt, bargains can be found!

If you really like the form of this couch -- go for it!

Hi SK –

I’ve had a sofa professionally reupholstered. I had it brokered through the guys at 2 Jakes in Brooklyn (http://www.twojakes.com/ ). They did an absolutely amazing job on the piece. The quality of the work was top notch. My piece was a similar size and labor costs were about $500. What really hit me though, was the crazy expense of the fabric. I opted to invest in a high quality Kvadrat wool (http://www.kvadratmaharam.com/), which ended up costing me another $500 (upholsterers need a lot more fabric than you might think.). At the time, I felt that if I was going to invest in the labor, it behooved me to use a fabric that would last. I felt the piece was enough of a classic that if I decided I didn’t want the piece a few years down the line, I could easily re-sell it for the money I put into it. If I were to do it again, I’d find less expensive fabric.

I’ve also reupholstered a few pieces myself. I found the experience rewarding, but very time-consuming. And the end results were mixed. The pieces with straight lines are obviously easiest to work with. Your sofa, on the other hand, has a lot of tricky curves, which makes me think that this would be a challenging piece to tackle as an amateur. However, you did find the piece for free, so what have you got to lose? Worst case scenario, you attempt it, decide you don’t like it, and end up having it professionally redone. If you decide to tackle it yourself though, you might try practicing the sewing portion with cheap fabric or old sheets. That helped me immensely.

Good luck!
Harley

I was in the same spot until I *miraculously* found a guy named Sukhai from Long Island City who does marvelous work at half the price of a Manhattan shop. Supply your own fabric, though...

P. Sukhai Furniture & Reupholstering
718-482-7171

Definitely give him a call.

Good luck,
Lukas

check that sofa for bedbugs and other vermin!

I inherited from a former roommate's parents a great 1950's couch from Gump's SF and kept it because it is really cool (looks like half of a hexagon) seats 5 confy while the footprint is small and works great in all the small apartments/victorians I have lived in, plus everyone who's ever seen it says, "wow, what a neat couch!".
finally I decided to update it since the fabric was begining to fray and the cushions were losing their shape. My goodness what a shock! just the labor alone here in SF was over 1000! And, I still needed to find fabric. I debated getting rid of it but I really love it and it's so well constructed that you really can't find that kind of quality anymore... shopping around, I found that well made couches were in the 5K plus range! (when did THAT happen?) Otherwise you just get mass produced stuff made in China... Long story short, I saved money for 2 years and shopped around for the right fabric and upholsterer and $2400 later, I'm in love with the newly refurbished couch. Found a store called Boca Bargoons where they sold a discontinued mocha Scalamandré velvet (not ultra suede) that sold retail for 230/yard for 55! I needed 23 yards, too and they had just 25 left so I went for it.
Every time I look at my couch and sit on it I am happy I kept it and invested in it.
As crazy as it sounds, go for it! You'll be glad you did as you'll have a truly original piece that will last for decades to come and not go out of style. Remember, quality has a price and we Americans seem to have forgotten about that. We demand the best but we want it on the cheap so, as my momma says, "You get what you paid for!".
Every time someome walks in the door and goes "Wow, where did you get it" I just smile cause I know it's one of a kind, truly exclusive.

PS. several people have offered to buy it for much more than the 2400 I spent on it but, it's NOT for sale!
good luck!
cheers,
Chris

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. I'll definitely check out the upholsterers listed (FYI, 2 Jakes no longer provides this service). But I should have been clearer -- it's not that I'm so concerned about what the sofa is "worth" so much as the fact that I can probably buy one in pristine condition for under $1000 on Ebay, which is less than I'd spend to fix it up. However, I'm not so in love with the original vinyl it comes in, which also is a bit much with the brown leather couch that is also in my living room, so I'll probably go ahead with the project. This leads to my last question about fabrics -- I want to avoid too much of an "office" look, so nixed the Maharam. I was thinking about a velvet . . . possibly in a pale grayish green/blue, but would love to hear any other ideas. Thanks!
SK

A pale grey green sounds very nice. I have found good deals on fabric while walking down Orchard St. between Delancey and Grand, and Grand street west of Orchard. Got silk dupioni for $10 a yard for a remnant 5-yard piece.

Maybe I am missing something, but didn't sk say that it was possible to find the same sofa on the internet for less than reuphostering it? It seems an obvious choice if you can buy it finished for less. Save the money and the hassle.

The bedbug comment is no laughing matter - take it seriously. There is a real problem in the city and once they are in your home, it can be a real effort to get rid of them. Its not just a can of bug spray and some dry cleaning.

I was initially worried about the bedbug issue too; fortunately, this sofa has a sold styrofoam body and no real seams or creases so I just wiped it down repeatedly and thoroughly with a rag soaked in bleach to eliminate any chance of unwelcome guests, figuring that I didn't mind ruining the upholstery (terrifyingly, it was completely unaffected). I generally prefer to go the easiest and cheapest route, but I'm inclined to reupholster rather than buying a sofa in better condition only because they all seem to be covered in vinyl . . .

maybe i'm a little crazy, but i think that couch would look lovely with a really vivid, oversize graphic print, especially if it'll be sitting across from a nice brown leather couch.

the wary-meyers people did a really cool job on a thonet chair:
http://www.warymeyers.com/warymeyers10a.html

i wouldn't use those specific colors, but i think a cool, neutral print, like a panton wave type thing, would look incredible. just make sure you throw some pillows in a similar fabric on the other couch, or else nothing will make sense.

How long is velvet going to last as a sofa fabric? It seems like a fabric that's easily stained or ruined but I am thinking of the stuff they make clothes out of. Maybe they have a different kind for furniture?

Yes, I meant to comment about the bedbug thing, too. We bought a vintage sofa on Ebay that ended up being infested with bedbugs, and we didn’t realize it until it was too late. Next scavenger trip you make, you might want to swing by an exterminator shop and buy some of this aerosol stuff that you spray on furniture (doesn’t damage fabric – was sprayed on silk and no problems) and flushes them out. And the product is supposedly natural – made from some sort of flower extract. It doesn’t by any means kill them, but if you want to know if something is infested, spray this stuff on it and they’ll run out. Obviously do this on the street and not in your apartment. G.R.O.S.S. Sorry. I know. But speaking from experience, bedbugs are a colossal pain – SERIOUSLY!

I know this may not be what you're looking for but I think that couch would look awesome with some sheepskin on the seat and maybe some cushions to match. That's what I would do in the meantime at least.

Look on ebay and at fabricguru.com for cheap upholstery fabric. I love the shape, and you own it now (and know it doesn't have bedbugs) so I would just reupholster this. If you can get the fabric at a good price, you can probably do the whole thing for less than $1000 if you shop around, so to my way of thinking, it's probably a wash in terms of price. Just shop around for upholsterers. I also think a print would look great, but you can't go wrong with a neutral velvet (unless you have cats), but you do have to make sure that velvet is really high-quality.

SK,

I'm a little late to this conversation. Did you ever reupholster your sofa? I bought an overman off ebay a couple of years ago with original nubby wool fabric, but when I had it cleaned, the fabric just disintegrated in a couple of places. I'm curious as to what you decided and how it turned out if you did have it reworked. Thanks.

Shevy:
I'm ashamed to say that the sofa is still sitting in the same condition -- had some family issues come up so it ended up getting back-burnered. I had decided on a boucle, but couldn't find a color I liked, so ended up picking a gun-metal grey chenille. Couldn't find an upholsterer in NYC that would do it for under $1000 in labor, though. Since you wrote some time ago, I'd be curious to hear what you ended up doing . . . . Thanks.

SK,

I'm sorry to report, I haven't done anything with mine either. And it's getting worse, but I don't want to spend that kind of money to save it. Maybe when I win the lottery.

I'm curious, did your choice of chenille drive the price at all? I don't know what kind of fabric I want to use, but I'd love to use a houndstooth check. Like this one. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/scavenger/scavenger-designer-houndstooth-sofa-for-2295los-angeles-058170

I'd TOTALLY steer clear of Beckenstein's. Their customer service has really taken a nose-dive since they moved, and all they seem to get done on time is the billing. Deliveries are HOURS late (if they show at all or don't reschedule the day of the appointment) items have to go back for repair, a client's wall was deeply gouged during installation, and the "sales manager" is rude, unprofessional and insulting.