I alwys decide how much I love the piece before doing reupholstery since the labor is huge but the fabric is also huge preced and no point IMO if you do not use good fabric. Often there is a need for better filling in the cushions and I find as I age I like a different seat firmness too. As for cost that seems pretty normal to me and of course NY always add some.

you get what you pay for. a pro with great reviews is priceless.

What would it cost for you to buy a quality ready made sofa comparable to what the custom work will be?

I paid $375 for this 1965 Ethan Allen update from red to cream. Included rewrapping the cushion to restore firmness.

PS: Live in SC

Don't think that is unreasonable price for labor, but I also live in an East Coast urban area. You can estimate at least 10 yards of fabric. I had a 1920 camelback, single cushion sofa taken down to frame and the amount of fabric paid for was 10 yards. The filling, including feathers for the single cushion, was priced separately. Depending on size/style of sofa, fabric amount could be much more for piecing/matching as well as filling needed.

Agree that you need to decide if cost/time waiting is worth it rather than just buying new although new will probably have wait time. I recently bought two new chairs and wait time was three months.

It really depends on the piece and the shape it is in. If you have to replace springs, foam, and a button back, that's a lot of work. If it's just covering a simple chair, that's another thing.

This is a lot of work. It has a button back and piping.

Urban Attitudes · More Info

This is much simpler

Bayshores · More Info

And these dining room chair are an easy DIY project:

Modern Summer House · More Info

I got a chaise lounge re-upholstered this time last year, and it was somewhere around $1500, (more than $1500 but less than $2000, I can't remember exactly how much), fabric and delivery included.

I ended up at a friend of a friend's upholstery shop this week. I didn't get a quote from them because it seemed odd in moment to talk money. But he told me I would need 25 yards to do a 86" sofa - tight back, no skirt, no tufting, and a solid black fabric so no print. I was surprised by that much yardage.

@porkchop_z5b_MI $1500 including fabric and delivery seems like a very good deal.

@bearbev - At $375, I cannot imagine why anyone in your area would buy new furniture rather than get some sturdy vintage from FBMP and reupholster.

I'm not debating whether to get something new. I always buy vintage and get reupholstering done. It has just been 12 years since I have done so, and I wasn't living NYC at the time, so I was just curious what people are paying everywhere.

An 86 " sofa, tight back ,no skirt, no repeat , needs a MAXIMUM, of 22 yards, and will include the old lady arm covers.

All of everything has soared in price......and that includes both FABRIC and upholstery labor, which of course includes their materials to accomplish the task. We have NO fabric mills in the USA and haven't had for decades. ...... every scrap you touch comes from elsewhere. The desire for bullet proof, the solution dyed indoor/outdoor , many that mime more fragile iterations? Every last one of them is China.

I'm upstate NY and even here, with my great lady who works from her GARAGE, meaning no overhead of a shop, ( conditioned ) is NOT less than 2k for a classic 3 seat. 3 backs sofa, not less than 750.00 for a tight back lounge chair. Assuming no guts of the piece will require work.

I provide the fabric.....and after beating a brain for who knows how many hours? MAY manage to arrive at something great for 150.00 ( retail ) to put on the piece.

That's not my cost, but given the agony hours involved, inexplicable to most who are "refreshing" a space, ......given the need to make a living? I can no longer discount the fabric at all. Then I must add the shipping of the fabric, the travel of the piece to the "lady" , the pick up of the piece from her garage, at 195.00 each way, and the HOURS spent at this desk, trying to be fair to a client, pay myself, ? Then add ALL of it and the tax man of New York State on every last bit of the process.

I have to ask......WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING? I'd make more for a lot less brain agony swabbing the floor at Burger King.

Every designer asks themselves of late.......Is it even possible to do CUSTOM anything for many clients these days. EVEN the wealthiest BALK. Can't say I blame them. : (

In other words? Pay up, or shut up.

A total does not help us know reasonable. What is that per hour? I take issue with anyone making more per hour than a highly educated ____________. And yet skilled labor is where we are most deficient. This is where we are at folks. No one comprehends the push to bring back manufacturing to the USA until they go shopping for the crap that is out there.,...

I recently had a 84" two-cushion sofa reupholstered for $1,200, 19 yards of plain fabric. Pickup and delivery included. My guy also works out of his garage. I'm in metro NY, I'm sure that if I were 20 miles west of here, the price would double. Everything in NYC is SO expensive!

@Diana Bier Interiors, LLC - What a bargain. Glad you have such an affordable guy you use. May I ask you for his name? The workshop of the upholsterer who charges $4k for her labor is a good 10 miles outside of the city, for which I'd still have to hire a person for transport.

It is nice that your guy does the work himself and gets the profit. An acquaintance took me to his brother's upholstery studio last week outside of the city. His brother's BMW was parked outside and he had five guys doing the work on the upholstery inside. I have no problem with people owning businesses. I just hope that these workers are being paid fairly and I'd rather pay someone who is directly doing the work.

We have NO fabric mills in the USA and haven't had for decades. ...... every scrap you touch comes from elsewhere.

Crypton still has fabric mills in the USA and a few other companies do as well. https://crypton.com/fabric-made-in-the-usa/ . But, of course, it is a drop in the bucket compared to what used to exist here before NAFTA, and much, much less than before Northern companies move to the South to circumvent unions.

I should rephrase"......because I am NOT a fan of Crypton. It is not the MAGIC BULLET people believe and often feels cheap.

I will confess, I like better than that: ) sorry... I do. Most clients do as well, they just don't love paying for what they LOVE.

My observation about having furniture re-upholstered is that if you aren't doing it yourself, you're going to pay more than buying new will cost. If you have a great piece of furniture, it might be worth it, but otherwise, not.

Since 2022, I've had the following reupholstered: 4 chairs, 2 stools, 1 headboard and 12 sets of outdoor cushions. Found a great upholstery shop in my area of FL. The labor cost was only a small part of the total project, due to the cost of the performance fabrics I picked.

" Performance" Yup........that is the word , KACHING is the other: )

Can you all teach me more about performance fabric? I have always thought they came in a wide range of prices - a cheap performance for $30/yard, a costly performance that looks and probably feels better from Schumacher at $200/yard. Am I missing something else?

Also, does performance fabric inherently mean it has a higher number of rubs? Or are there 20k-30k rubs that are also performance?

The last time I upholstered this sofa I got super duper eco textiles Two Sisters. Never again. It changed color quickly. I get it. When you don't use a bunch of chemicals, you can't expect the miracles of science. It was a fine experiment the one time, but never again. My tuchas can sit on the chemicals. If I sleep on it, I put an organic cotton sheet or pillow under my face.

you're going to pay more than buying new will cost. If you have a great piece of furniture, it might be worth it, but otherwise, not.

Yes, it is never worthwhile to upholster cheap furniture. It's really only lasting, sturdy furniture that upholstery is meant for. I could purchase a Room and Board or Pottery Barn sofa for less than the upholstery would cost me. But, my sofa is Baker. A new Baker would cost me double or triple the cost of upholstery. The Baker sofa cost me $200 on EBay 12 years ago. I have been able to find really high quality sofas for free on craigslist. I purchased a pair of Sherrill wingbacks on craigslist for $75 each last year. They seem quality enough to reupholster.

Sorry about the sticker shock, @Kendrah! Since I recommended this particular upholsterer, I'm not surprised by the numbers.

Here's some perspective:

I bought a used vintage original Eero Saarinen Womb Chair and Ottoman, still "wearing" its original upholstery, for less than half what I would have paid for an authentic one new. I had it for more than ten years before it needed reupholstering. At that point it was about 40 years old, and had recently suffered less than stellar treatment by a so-called "high-end" moving and storage firm. (Grr.) The reupholstering (fabric, labor, delivery) cost me about twice what I paid for the set in the first place. If it lasts another 40 years, I won't feel it owes me any money—assuming I live that long, which would mean I passed the century mark by more than a decade. So I expect to enjoy my gorgeous, comfortable chair for the rest of my life.

Worth it for me (and I'm extremely grateful I could afford it). Only you can determine whether it's worth it to you.

Edited to add: I'm in Manhattan, NYC—for anyone else trying to compare markets.

This is the fabric I used on the two chairs. Decorators Best website has it for $176/yard.

Close up photo. From a short distance away it looks like a light off-white fabric.

Each chair was 8 yards.

75,000 Wyzenbeek double rubs.

Link below is the fabric I used for the two Hickory Chair sofas I purchased last year. The furniture showroom had nothing in the standard fabric offerings that looked good with other elements I had in the space and was also rated as performance fabric, so I ended up doing a COM order (customers own material). This definitely costs more because you never get a real credit for not using one of their fabrics!

100,000 Wyzenbeek double rubs

https://www.decoratorsbest.com/products/jf-fabrics-quincy-beigeoff-whitegrey-31-fabric

The two fabrics together. I have a lot of color in art, rugs, other chairs and nearby dining room, so I wanted to keep these pieces more neutral. Now I need to find some patterned pillows to tie it all together!

FYI - when I started my sofa search one of the furniture showrooms had a nice looking Baker sofa, upholstered in a basic off-white fabric. The store price was $16K. The other quality brands that had sofa shapes I liked and not too different from the Baker, were in the $8K range. There are some thing I will pay more for, but I did not see or feel anything in the Baker sofa that would make me pay double for it!

No need to apologize @amystoller. I'm not completely shocked. Just curious if that is the ballpark in other areas. My mom paid the same as I did for a wingback to be reupholstered and she certainly doesn't live in Manhattan. Interesting what something cost in certain areas and not in others. People are worth their time and it is a dying skill.

I think we'd cycle through sofas frequently if we just purchased fast furniture. These sturdy old frames can take a beating of my husband collapsing into them every which way at the end of a very long day.

I switch between wanting beautiful things that are appropriately taken care of (meaning go with the $4k+ upholsterer) vs. trying to not care how my husband treat our furniture (meaning go with the cheapo upholstery stores around that are half the price and don't do as great of a job.)

@chispa - I love the subtle difference of your two fabrics. I'm such a fan of neutrals. I could go for an entire room that has not accent colors at all.

See if there is a workshop where you can do one stop shopping. For instance, this is what we use on Cape Cod. I would match the work to any big city option.

I private messaged you yesterday, Kendrah. Just making sure you saw it.

I got a second quote for upholstery and it is right in line with the first quote, maybe slightly less. Labor is $2750. With fabric, foam, delivery, taxes, the estimate is $6,200.

It seemed outrageous at first. But then I realized that is probably just what a new sofa in this quality range would cost - something like a Lee Industries or Cisco. And a new Baker would be even more.

While I could go get a Room and Board or other lower priced sofa for half the cost, I'm not sure I want that quality. I read reviews of similar Room and Board sofas. Sure, there is a lot of compliments on delivery and people who just had it arrive that week think it looks pretty. But people who have had it for months are reporting problems with bowing, sagging. The price of a Room and Board sofa is so low compared to the cost of labor and materials that I really wonder if they are cutting corners somewhere or just willing to take a loss these days?

So, I've adjusted to the sticker shock. It is just the price of things these days. I'm ready to get it upholstered.

Thanks for the update. Best of luck!

After retirement I am going to reupholster a pretty simple mcm sofa. When I lived in California I would shop at the Upholstery Fabric Outlet (UFO). Could always find what I was looking for, could go in and touch the fabric and pick out something that I knew would work. When in doubt their salespeople were great.

Not sure how to go about finding a good upholstery fabric - what materials, what weight, where to shop . . .

Anyone have suggestions?

The photo below is the sofa I will be reupholstering - needs new foam on the seat, new fabric everywhere.

(Yes - I can sew and have upholstered other items in the past).

@Mary Elizabeth...I also LOVE fabricguru.com! It's got excellent prices on GORGEOUS fabrics. For leather I like Tandy's Leather. Right now I'm making slip covers with Sunbrella fabric. It's so nice to work with quality fabric!