Reupholstery of an old chair

[roselis]

My mom has a chair that she refuses to get rid of despite it being in poor shape. The frame is still good, but the cover is torn and falling apart. She wants to get it reupholstered, and has been saying this for several years. I have thought about possibly getting it done for her as a christmas gift next year, and seeing if my siblings wants to chip in. How much should we expect for it to cost?

[auntie]

It really depends on the chair.

Typically it costs about as much as buying a moderately priced chair outright.

Calico Corners website lists their costs for reupolstery which are ridiculously high even during sales. They do a lovely job, but seem about 1/3- 1/2 again as much as other quality shops.

I'm going to cover this chair after Christmas, CC quoted me $750 for the chair alone plus the cost of fabric from them. I can get it done elsewhere for about $450 and can provide my own fabric at about $15-$20/yd.

www.calicocorners.com/product/custom+upholstered+furniture/custom+upholstered+chairs+and+chaises/dining+and+wood+frame+chairs/james%27+chair.do

Two other caveats. This is custom work and generally takes weeks to turn around. And not all furniture is worth re-doing. This page can help you decide.

www.calicocorners.com/category/landingpage/reupholstery.do

[pitterwoo]

I would only reupholster if you all really love the chair. LOVE. Think of it like rebuilding the engine of an old car. You might be better off just buying a new chair or if she won't part with this then making a custom slipcover.

A slipcover might be a couple hundred while reupholstery might be close to a thousand depending on the fabric and if you need all new foam and redo the springs and supports.

[Deleted]

Call around but I would willing to estimate between $300-$600 depending on the chair (if it has lots of detailing, piping, needs new filling/stuffing it will be on the higher end or even more). Then of course you have to factor in the cost of fabric which depends on what you pick. If you decide to go for it just call a lot of places, I have recovered a number of things and different places constantly quote me a wide range of prices, specially depending on how busy they are at the time.