Where do I get my chair reupholstered and/or fixed?
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 at
5:37 am
I’m moving away and want to take my Grandfathers old armchair which I really like, but its not too pretty. What kind of place does reupholstering? Do furniture stores do it or specialty shops? And it doesn’t lock in a reclining position when the footrest is out, but I can probably fix that.
You can go to a shop that sells upholstery fabric , and has the rolls in the store. By doing this you will get a better idea of what the chair is going to look like when it is finished. They also may have lists of people they would reccommend to do the work. If anyone was on their list and people have complained about them I’m sure they would be stricken from the list.
I owned a design business for 15 years, so here are the cautions, or things to be aware of.
Most upholstery shops have sample books, with small swatches of each fabric. It is hard for some people to visualize what the finished chair would look like- that’s why I suggested you go to the fabric store instead of to the upholsters shop first and look-wait to buy until you find the person to do it.
To save yourself some money call around to some shops you have been reccommended to and ask these two questions, IN THIS ORDER. 1) "How much do you charge to cover an arm chair"-they will ask you if it has loose cushions, a skirt, cording, buttons. These answers will help them come up with a price.
After they give you a price, then say 2) "Do you charge any more if I have my own fabric"(since you have seen something you like at the fabric store. If they give you a much higher price(because they aren’t making a profit on the fabric) you can go into their shop now and see if they have something similar to what you saw in the fabric store, and then decide if you want to get fabric from them or the other store.
Also be aware that recliners are a real pain to recover, and it may cost you More than it would be to buy a new one. Unless it has value to you because it was your grandpa’s you may choose to buy a new one.
Take it to a reupholstered shop. You will find them in the yellow pages. You can also pick out the fabric you like and they can also fix the the lock for reclining.
Check the Yellow Pages under Upholsterers. Furniture stores do not recover furniture.
There’s lots of upholstery shops around, depending on where you live. I have a friend who owns one here in San Diego. He has a guy working for him who does all the reupholstery. They carry all kinds of upholstery fabrics. You just bring the chair in, pick your fabric, and they completely restore the upholstery (new foam, fabric, tacks, etc.).
It’s not cheap, though. I have a sofa that cost about $800 new. It’s getting pretty dingy and asked about reupholstering it versus buying a new one. My friend said that it would cost about $1600 to reupholster the sofa and that I would be better off just buying a new one.
Of course, with an heirloom like you have, you can’t just go out and replace it. But, expect the reupholstery job to be a bit pricey.