Well, you have to buy leather by the hide if you are reupholstering, so you would have to find out how many hides it would take as a pretty large chair. And there is not really any economy of scale by being able to use partial hides on the next chair, like something made by a manufacturer.

I have done both to the same pieces. I have a pair of McCobb stools and I think even they needed Just little more than half a hide, so I bought a full hide and when the upholsterer got it and said the hide was on the large side, and could have been done with a half hide. (I still have half a hide and make some pillows) When I moved into this place, they did not work with what I was doing so I had them recovered in Naugahyde, because I wanted them to be Kelly Green. I could have gotten a Kelly Green hide but it would have been at a premium price. I would not recommended recovering in leather without using a high grade of leather.

I have nothing against faux leather if it is Good faux leather. There is still in my family a sofa that was covered in 1970 with black Naugahyde that still looks perfect. Actually the only thing that is failing is the thread used to hold the cushions together. And an upholsterer said resewing the existing Naugahyde back together.

Have you heard of painting the leather?

Many tutorials online.

If there are no holes in the leather and it's comfy (not needing to be restuffed) I'd look into having the leather restored. I don't know where you live, if near or in a large city there might be a service for that. Or paint it as eld suggests. If it doesn't work, you're out nothing since you would recover anyway.

I think faux can look nice, but it's still plastic and won''t breathe or have the same give as leather. It would be a no for me.

Wouldn't paint affect the breathability?

Oh!!! Yes !!!, eld’ I’d forgotten Magnaverde’ sofa!!

Unfortunetly, there is a small hole. That wouls have been a fun project. Guess I’ll have to check out naugahyde and price hides., also new chairs. :(

If its a small hole, but you love the chair, have the leather treated and revitalized. They might also be able to make a repair. I had a tear in a leather jacket repaired and was surprised how good it looked afterwards.

adding that there are lots of companies in that space if you google So Cal Leather Upholstery Repair

Nicole

I do upholstery as a hobby. My advice....you can buy high quality leather from Tandy's Leather. I recovered the seats of a Bernhardt love seat and a whole ottoman. One WHOLE cow hide was on sale for $80, regular $100. Very high end leather, BTW. It was a pretty large hide. My Bernina sewing machine with a leather needle is ALL it took. I used a zipper foot, then lessened the feed dog pressure and lengthened the stitch. It went pretty quickly....wasn't hard to do if you sew? My furniture pieces were like you said....better than average...worth saving! If you can't do upholstery...you might be able to buy the leather, then pay an upholstery place to do the work? I can advise you on what hides to buy. It would help if you have a Tandy's store nearby, but you can place a mail-order? And...you'd be upholstering the whole chair...so you wouldn't have to match the color like I did.

Nicole

To summerize. I have $80 + $6 pkg Schmetz sewing machine leather needles + $4 heavy thread = $90 (I already own a spool of piping...JoAnns or Hobby Lobby sells piping.) $90 completed MY project.

I don't know if the underside of the cushion is fabric? or leather? Is it reusable? You NEED two hides...$160 + $6 pkg leather needles + $4 spool of thread + $10 piping = $180 and you'd have a Top Grain NEW leather chair.

If it were me...I'd put NEW webbing on the chair. Another $10. And...I own a hand staple gun and a compressor with a staple gun attachment. Little upholstery nails will work too, reuse what's on the chair .

Link + 10% off coupon

Hey! Thanks so much everyone. But for the hole, I might try painting. I will see what my upholstery man thinks. Wish I was as handy as some pn here! Thanks for educating me on leather.

IME, since I cannot sew like HU-376768088 (WOW, impressive), the labor locally is so very high to repair things, vs the labor in countries where things are mf'd, that repair/reupholstery rarely makes sense.

I'd look around. I say that knowing there are less places to see stuff in person than there used to be, and knowing that quality standards have deteriorated.

I noticed a new Laz-y Boy store in a strip mall recently --- when is the last time you saw a new furniture store of any kind?

Nicole

Our Laz-y Boy is having a half off sale. You'd still pay about $3k for a single chair.

Thanks mtn. I do alright. And...our upholstery places charge as much as a new piece of furniture too.

Yes on $$$ upholstery shops. Individuals in our area can make it a wise choice….thankfully!

I had 4 chairs, a headboard and a whole set of outdoor cushions reupholstered in the last 2 years and, in my area, the labor really wasn't that expensive. For me, what really drove up the cost for the projects was the fabrics ... it seems I have a knack for finding and liking expensive fabrics, even with a friend's trade discounts. In my defense, I mostly used crypton or indoor/outdoor fabrics and those start out at a higher price point.

" the labor locally is so very high to repair things, vs the labor in countries where things are mf'd, that repair/reupholstery rarely makes sense. "

Except, with an American made, 35 year old chair, this is not really not a like to like comparison, a company with furniture still actually made America vs. the POS you are going to get in some piece of furniture screwed and stapled together out of softwood and cardboard in Southeast Asia for half the price or less, and probably not even worth that.

"Well, does it really make much difference? Is it really going to fall apart that fast?"

There is some evidence, by the broken down sofas left by the curb every year that were bought 2-4 years earlier by grad students and residents in my neighborhood, the answer is "Yes"

there is a middle ground…

Actually not a whole lot. Most chain retail furniture stores sell inferior imported furniture, and if you go to a good furniture store, if you can still find one, you will probably pay more for a new piece than reupholstering the old one.

This chair is Room and Board. It is not quite as big or detailed but the closest I could readily find in an American made chair. It is stocked in one leather at 2500. Choice of any other leather at the same grade is 2900-3200.

This "Dan" chair, from Century starts at $4500 in leather

I drove a thunderbird with Naugahyde interior years ago and no one could tell it from leather. And it wore -well, like leather. I haven't seen it in a car in years though.

My neighbor who has now moved to the other side of the state had a sewing machine that her parents had used for reupholstering. It would sew leather.

I'd be calling a couple of upholstery renewal places and asking for prices. They might be able to come close to an estimate from a photo, you wouldn't necessarily have to carry the piece around. When it comes to chairs, I agree some of those that are older have a much better look and feel that what can be found new.

Ot - but my SIL has a sofa that was her grandmothers. It's goose down cushions, and lovely still. She's considering passing it on to someone else who will appreciate it now that she has FOUR toddler grandchildren who jump on things and can have sticky hands 😊

Actually if you look at the details of most leather upholstery in cars, it says "leather seating surfaces", so all the sides, backs, door panels and so forth are vinyl, and only the part people sit on is real leather. And most people never realize it.

no advice on the chair but I love that blanket!!

If you decide to buy new look at Hancock and Moore's line, especially the Austin High back model. These are made in the USA and have hardwood frames. You have a choice of the level of leather. You can pull up pictures on line. We had one of these that lasted many years and was given away when redoing.

To give you an idea of the amount of leather required, Hancock and Moore has a similar chair that takes 144 sq ft of leather.

Lizbeth, We have two H&M club chairs. The are the best.Thanks for yardage info, suro sureo. Always one step…thanks! me too. I hate putting it away for summer.