The advantage of reupholstering is that you pick the exact fabric in the exact color that you want. I good reupholsterer will fix sagging springs and tighten everything. It can cost a much as a new sofa, but you will probably end up with a better one. It will take more effort on your part to work with the upholsterer to choose fabric and alternate repair possibilities, but they are artisans that is worth keeping available.

I'm an amateur upholsterer, but this is an easy job! I LOVE Bernhardt quality and their designs are timeless for their fans...like me. THIS is a Bernhardt leather loveseat I re-upholstered the seats with new piping. Tandy's leather is local so I was able to color match the hide. Soooooooooooooo worth it! Yes...it's well made!

YOU have to weigh the cost of upholstery verses what a new one would cost. I like a lot of the newer Bernhardt. Maybe it sits too low? Maybe you want a newer design? Lots to consider. Since I do my own work....I only have $80 invested in my Bernhardt love seat...it was a mess...and FREE on CL when I obtained it...so it's new-to-me....and the NEW leather seats really are brand NEW! After 10 years....I'm ready to redecorate.....and not attached to most of my "things". I love to shop....and would gladly try something new.

Having furniture reupholstered is almost always far more expensive than buying new. Get some quotes from local people to see if that holds true.

I found a very good upholstery shop in my area of FL. The labor cost are very reasonable, but the fabric is what makes it expensive, as I used good quality performance or indoor/outdoor fabrics for the projects.

Yes! It's true that furniture made before 2000 was higher quality and is worthy of reupholstering. (I've reupholstered high-quality sofas just because I loved them.) Do the math. There are some Bernhardt sofas on sale for as low as 2k so I wouldn't go over that number. If reupholstering is higher in your area, just buy. See Perigold.com: https://www.perigold.com/filters/furniture/sb2/sofa-bernhardt-sofas-loveseats-c1866912-a2480~2253-a94377~310038.html

Some sofas are made with separate legs, but others have the legs as part of the frame. If you would like it to sit 2 or 3 inches higher off the ground, this is the time to ask the upholsterer about new longer legs vs. new sinuous springs. New springs may do the job, but longer legs may be needed, too. 2-3 inches higher seating makes a huge difference in ease of getting off the sofa. Robovacs can also scoot under the sofa to clean out dust bunnies and cat toys.

You can try out the higher seating by temporarily adding couch risers to the legs for about $20.

https://www.amazon.com/couch-risers/s?k=couch+risers

The springs are usually under the cushions, so, remove the cushions. Is the foam in the cushions saggy? Or do firm cushions sit on a saggy frame. Redoing springs is a tedious, time-consuming job. Saggy webbing as a support is easier to replace, although if the cushions are soft enough, you can just put in plywood. We had sagging seats in our leather Pottery Barn kitchen stools. We put plywood underneath and that allowed us to revive the stools without removing the upholstery, which would have been required to replace the webbing. No pro would do such a hack, but it worked.

I would not redo. I am sure if not really used much in the past thirteen years, it was sagging and sitting low after the FIRST 13 years. If a three seat, 6 cushion total sofa? You will need not less than 20 yards with NO skirt, more if skirted. You will have , depending your area, 1700 to more in labor, atop your fabric selection. Even at fifty dollars a yard, ( an inexpensive , performance velvet, perhaps......you're already at nearly 3 k and possibly MORE. for underpinnings of support to the sag, possibly disintegrating foam under those covers. It's not a value. Time to begin anew.

You don't expect an automobile to hold up for 26 years, nor will a sofa: )

My own Taylor King is twenty years old. But I live alone, and were I to buy new , as it has been recovered twice? I'd not expect to get twenty again.....from ANY sofa, and certainly not Bernhardt which is now........J.U.N.K

Can you buy a fantastic couch for 3K, and one to last 13 years? No you can not. Even the best will give you ten years max. Welcome to our world, and anyone who tell you otherwise never sits, or is a liar.

Thank you all, and Jan for your invaluable insights as a prof designer. Now I’m questioning even purchasing ”better” brands. I’m also looking at chairs and have been quoted roughly $1800-$2500 for Lee, CR Laine and Precedent in low-mid range fabrics.

Maybe I should just head to Value City, Target or World Market every few years!

I get my upholstery and drapery fabric at the local surplus/salvage store. I paid $3.99/yard for my last upholstery project. The choice isn't huge, but I found something that was a perfect match for my walls.

@elluviga - Have you reached out to good upholsterers yet and gotten a quote? I'm curious what you are finding and where you live.

I have found that quality old reupholstered vs quality new is about the same price. I'm going with reupholstering the old because if it is rock solid joinery and durable 40 years after it was made, I have more confidence that it will be sturdy longer than most any sofa I can buy today even for a similar price.

@JAN MOYER - Good to know that Bernhardt is now junk.

Quite a few Bernhardts for sale on ebay. Various prices.

At a quick glance, I noticed a couple of nice velvets. One for pickup in Teaneck, NJ - one for Pickup in NY. And a leather piece- pretty pricey, especially for ebay.

The Burgandy is in NJ - $500.

The blush pink is in NY.

I had a custom made sofa done about 25 years ago. solid wood, craftsmanship, etc. About 15 yrs ago I had it reupholstered, not because it needed it but because " what was I thinking when I chose red and gold??!" don't ask. also had new cushions put in on the seats.

It's now a nice charcoal velvet-ish material. cushions/springs are still in great condition. He took FOREVER to do, but it was a nice job. cost then was about 3K, maybe more? I had a chaise done too.

that sofa is solid and made well and I've kept a throw over the cushions. I'll have it until I die.

@Kendrah—-I have not checked upholsterers here yet. We just moved so I’ll have to do some research.

I was at two stores Sunday that carry the brands I mentioned. I asked about the sofa and both stores said it’s not worth reupholstering, but of course they want to sell new furniture. I’m afraid if I visit a few upholsterers they wil all agree to reupholster to get the business!

It’s very frustrating to be spending thousands of dollars on even mid-range brands and know you’re still getting junk. Never thought Berhardt would be in that category even now.

Good sofas use hands, human hands. It takes YEARS to get an upholsterer up to full speed in a quality factory. It takes years of practice, to be highly skilled at eight way hand tie - Sinuous is brainless by comparison., and a webbed is junk. In the recent Pandemic many of the very skilled died or quit, and I am talking those who had been at it for forty years. Factories, at first gleeful with the rush of orders as people trapped in their homes and then finally freed decided to overhaul. Suddenly, those factories were in trouble big. The furniture industry is one that is always hopeful orders will meet a reasonable production schedule, ( you wait 10 - 12 weeks for a couch ) not ever dreaming meeting the order flood would simply overtake'/ overwhelm all possible production capacity. That's why people waited a year for a couch.

Factories merged ( Rock House Brands as example...Century, Hickory Chair, Hancock and Moore, Pearson, Jessica Charles,,,,,,!! and more in their family in case goods such as Maitland Smith, A sofa frame may be made in one building, upholstered in another!

A couple years ago, I had the "pleasure " of seeing a brand new Bernhard sofa unwrapped for display at our to the trade showroom/Design center. The underside? LOL!! it looked exactly as the underside of a ten dollar mattress box spring under a 200 dollar mattress! Speechless for a split second...... I stared and " What an unbelievable PILE of pure JUNK!"

The only good news I can share is this: Even a CR Laine, ( moderate ) will outlast anything you can buy with a mouse click. A Hickory Chair will outlast Restoration Hardware, Arhaus, by a factor of three times,and yes costs more, but NOT three times as much. You might ( still ) die with a leather couch from Hancock and Moore, get close to death with one from Taylor King, I'm beginning to rate theirs over Hickory Chair, actually. Maybe it's the Rock House family factory issue!

I am as frustrated as you. The days of my being able to get Baker down a clients tonsils has sailed, due to styling as much as price. Hickory Chair? I have one sofa body I've used three times ) love it as do my clients) each time it comes in,,,,,,it feel a reduction in the support when I sit!! I am sending two brand new BACK to the factory for a design detail error.........."NO WELT" stated, on the order and order not followed.! A client as livid as yours truly.

.

Bottom line? Most who post here will tell you what they have, how much it cost to redo ......

I will tel you this. It's pay up or shut up. It's THE most difficult piece in your home to guarantee, in all aspects. It simply comes down to what do you want it to look like, how comfortable do you need it to be, how LONG do you want it to last...........and what are you willing to pay. My own Taylor King? I paid 2500.00 twenty years ago. .......yes...twenty.

When you figure it all out? Call me:

I just told you t.r.u.t.h. and no.....unless you can get your Bernhardt done for 2500..00 all in?

Answer is same. No. ... and I am darn certain you can not unless you do the labor. CR Laine is better than Lee. that much I do know: )

Pricing btw an urban myth. You want an 1800.00 couch that equals a Pottery Barn of twenty years ago and the same 1800.00 you paid for the one you shall set on the curb? It's still around 1800.00?? How do you think it happens..........? Mmmmmm? Yes, it's UNREASONABLY low and you will get the l.o.w. everything, you paid for.

I'll ask you this:

Would you pay 15.00 dollars a week, to sit on, look at , something you loved for eight years?!

52 weeks x 8 yrs = 416 wks x 15 bucks? ........6, 240.00 dollars.

What do you spend each week on drive through coffee or pizza....

I ask rhetorically of course.

Jan, I really appreciate your candor. Good to know CR Laine is better than Lee. We are in our 70’s—we don’t need these pieces to last 20 years. I just want decent quality for everyday sitting I don’t have to replace every few years.

I had to laugh when the salesperson the other day said these chairs would be heirloom—the kids don’t want our stuff and they wouldn’t know a Baker sofa from a Rooms to Go sofa.

elluviga-We, too, are in our 70s, yet purchased a Hancock Moore leather sofa last year-8 months, I think it took, but I worked too many years not to reap and enjoy the benefits now. We spend a lot of winter hours inside! Let the kids worry about it later. I also made the mistake of paying to upholster (really just cushions) a wicker chair and 2 outdoor chairs. While I do love them, the total was about 1000. The only upholsterer in my area insists on buying fabric through her, so no bargain shopping. The outdoor fabric I chose was $100 a yard. i am not sure I would do it again.

You could get another Bernhardt from about the same era that is in better condition than the one you have- and reupholster it or not. You may find one in pristine condition.

That your sofa has sinuous springs makes me suspicious that it is actually of high enough quality to spend on reupholstering. I personally would not spend the money on reupholstering a sofa with that kind of spring.

The stress that may have made the spring fail and could be causing it to sit low is the same stress that will exert force on this same cheap spring it once it is fixed. There are inexpensive, quick to use, quick to fix springs that are going to tend to not last as long or be very high quality.

When my parents were in their 70s, they weren't as concerned with the life span lasting decades as they were with - wouldn't it be nice if we purchased something quality enough that we don't have to go shopping for xyz again when we are in our early 80s.

I’m glad that I've lived long enough and through enough to realize that I really don’t need a ”forever sofa”... at any age.