I had started work on doing the upholstery myself, but the tetanus side-effects really wiped me out for those first two months or so. We ended up buying a car this year (did I mention that earlier?), so one day in October when my resolve and spirits were both low, I loaded up the sofa and took a little day trip down to my trusty upholsterers back in Maryland. It takes about three hours to drive there, but I stopped along the way to do some antiquing and Amish-food-eating with my sister, so it was a fun day trip. :)
Jensen's only charges $525 for a sofa job (about a third the price of my upholsterer here in the city!), but I still felt a little guilty for not upholstering the sofa myself, especially since I mentioned here that I would. I have to say though, it was worth every penny to free up that time and energy when things were a little rocky, health-wise. (If you're looking for an in-depth upholstery tutorial, I did a whole series here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)
I ended up doing the contrasting welt we talked about and I really love it. I found four yards of this dark teal (almost black) Sunbrella fabric at Home Fabrics in Arizona for about $4 a yard. They have this store in California, Utah and Nevada too, I think, and it is a treasure trove!!! I save about half my suitcase for hauling my finds home to NY each trip we take.
I'm so glad I found that Sunbrella. I know it will hold up really well and I think the color is great with the pretty green velvet I scored at JEM here in the city.
We've had the sofa back for about eight weeks now and it has taken kid spills like a boss.
More living room photos and projects coming! Lots to post about here, but there's still lots left to do in the room.
PS Some links for the projects/items seen here:
Persian rug // Jute rug // Binding the jute rug // Pillow fabric // Scrolly mirror // Chesterfield tufted sofa // Refinished sliding glass doors // Gilded coffee table
Bravo on letting go and giving someone else the job to upholster that Baker sofa, love the color. Minty fun green!
ReplyDeletepve
Amazing Jenny! Great fabric choices. I always want/try to do things myself, but I really appreciate those items I let someone else do mostly because I know how much work goes into it. So worth it!
ReplyDeleteLooks great, Jenny!!! I *love* the contrasting colors. It looks fresh and happy. Nice job knowing when to delegate, too. That's a big deal!! Well played.
ReplyDeleteLove the transformation. I am always impressed by the vision you have in updating furniture. You have a great eye for possibilities.
ReplyDeleteLove it - it looks fantastic. I love the contrasting pipping!
ReplyDeleteIt looks so fantastic!!! I LOVE the teal. I don't know if I would ever have the guts to do it for my living room, but you've definitely given me some inspiration.
ReplyDeleteYou have such an amazing eye Jenny! I wish I were half as talented as you! Wow I sound like a really scary stalker fan.
ReplyDeleteTotally going to check that upholsterer out next time I need something. Sometimes it's nice to just have someone else do it if you can. Love the colors too!
ReplyDeleteCan you post the contact info for your upholsterer? I live in Virginia and paid $1200 for the labor on my sofa and $525 for a chair! I 'd love to have more done at that price.
ReplyDeleteJenny! They have a Home Fabrics here in Fort Worth, too! I have found some CRAZY awesome stuff there! Woot woot! xoxo Grace
ReplyDeleteAStoriedStyle.com
Love what you did with the sofa! I'm always a fan of reupholstering a quality piece.
ReplyDeleteI love how the sofa turned out! Looks fab!
ReplyDeleteAmazing, Jenny! I'm dying to see the rest of the room. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a truly amazing transformation!
ReplyDeleteYour sofa looks fab! as does your living room! Looks so inviting and fun!
ReplyDeleteCurious. What was the yardage you used for your main sofa fabric? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSeriously Jenny, absolutely STUNNING! You make me want to reupholster everything in my house! Thanks for sharing this!~
ReplyDeleteI was so wrong! I think I voted for the same color welting. The dark color looks so great.
ReplyDeleteI have a confession to make. 11 years ago I was given a sofa by a neighbor for my new house. This sofa had a floral upholstery I wasn't fond of so I thought to put this sofa in the basement. Mind you the sofa was in immaculate condition, with beautiful legs hiding underneath the skirt, and yes...down cushions. But I was 20 and didn't yet know of the wonderful world of re-upholstery or what constitutes exceptionally well-built furniture. So into the basement it went. Except it didn't fit down the stairs. So what is a driven albeit misguided 20 year old to do? I cut off those legs. I no longer own that home and that beautiful sofa is probably still there sitting on the cold basement floor. It haunts me to this day.
ReplyDeleteLooks fabulous -- I especially love it with the rug! What a great color.
ReplyDeleteIt looks so good, especially with the Persian rug! I wish I had the guts to try to reupholster something but I'm fairly certain I'd either really jack it up or lose interest and have a half-recovered chair sitting in our house.
ReplyDeleteDid you put anything on the sofa to protect the fabric? I'd love a velvet sofa, but I'm concerned my dog and I would destroy it.
ReplyDeleteINCREDIBLE! I let go of a Baker love seat my mom gave me, simply because the re-upholstery costs would have been too steep -- and I will be forever sad about it. It looks FAB FAB and MORE FAB.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm so glad you posted this today! I'm about to reupholster a couch for my daughter's "big girl room". It's going to be a green velvet, and I'm totally in love with it, but I want to make sure it's not going to look like trash in a year. Did you treat the velvet before hand, or is it just easy to clean?
ReplyDeleteAmazing. I love your fabric choices especially the contrasting welt color it really shows off the great lines of the sofa!!
ReplyDeletegreat work on the sofa!
ReplyDeleteit is simply divine.
Molly {Dreams in HD}
http://dreamsinhd.blogspot.com/
Love it! And that price is out of control.
ReplyDeleteWow, Jenny! It looks gorgeous! And thanks so much for sharing about Jensen's! I've been putting off reupholstering my two living room sofas forever, but at that price, maybe I won't have to put it off much longer! Is it Jensen's furniture workroom in Rising Sun, MD?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the color you chose! So fun and so chic!
ReplyDeleteWell done! And I totally would have driven three hours for that price, too. I was at Target the other day and I happened upon a aisle that was full of ikat, Greek key, blacks and oranges. I checked the tags because I immediately thought this was your work. (It was Target's Threshold line.)
ReplyDeleteLoving the velvet. I'd love a velvet upholstered settee or chaise one day. Just got the new Ballard Catalog and they were showing a lot of their pieces (chairs, daybeds...) in pretty shades of velvet, like mint green.
ReplyDeleteFreaking amazing! Gorgeous. Wish I could come up with that combo on my own. Loveeeee it. It's so much better when you reuse and get to be creative isn't it? I bet you appreciate it a millions times more than any other couch. Seriously, everyone should reuse couches instead of adding to land fills!
ReplyDeleteI love the style of this sofa. So nice. Great job on the choice of fabric too.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine having a couch reupholstered for that little! In Boston I just recently had a sofa and ottoman reupholstered for $2100 plus the cost of the fabric! Yours looks spectacular, maybe next time I'll take a trip down to Maryland.
ReplyDeleteLove the color of your sofa - it turned out beautifully! I've been meaning to reupholster our large sofa (solid oak with down pillows that is over 45 years old!) but never had the time to find fabric. I finally found a slip-cover that fit it perfectly - at Ikea of all places. Not the same but better than it was! Thanks for sharing your pictures, Cynthia
ReplyDeleteHoly Cow!! i can't believe that is the same sofa! great color combo. please come to california and help me finish up my home!!
ReplyDeleteNice! Those prices are amazing. I am in North Jersey and would totally make the trip for those prices.
ReplyDeleteNice! Those prices are amazing. I am in North Jersey and would totally make the trip for those prices.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sofa, beautiful choice in color. Would you mind sharing the make and colorway of that velvet? It is to die for!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love that sofa the colour is amazing!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love that sofa the colour is amazing!
ReplyDeletegorgeous but please tell the story of the Chesterfield sofa
ReplyDeletegorgeous . can't wait to read more about the Chesterfield sofa
ReplyDeleteSometimes you have to outsource it! It looks great, so love the velvet you picked.
ReplyDeletelove. it.
ReplyDeleteI knew I would love that sofa finished! Its beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMan, my first thought was "I hope she shares her upholsterer, but she definitely won't," and you did! Alas, it's not in NYC!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!!! Love the velvet you chose and your "new" sofa is just stunning ♥
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for this great make over!
The sofa looks absolutely gorgeous, Jenny! Definitely worth the 3 hour road trip. Great picks on the fabrics.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great sofa - and a great price! I have two vintage chairs I need to get done. Thanks for mentioning the fabric store, I'm in California and will be Googling it. :)
ReplyDeleteUm wow, and I just found out there's a Home Fabrics VERY close to where I work! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe sofa looks amazing and I have to say, as someone who loves doing everything myself, & tackling ambitious projects--sometimes it really is worth it to pay someone else to do it. The stress, the worry, the *time.* Well done!
ReplyDeleteThis is insane. Like it doesn't even look like the same piece! So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteJenny I adore your Baker Sofa!! Then it looks even richer in the evening light. I would love to use your upholsterer. My last one was a nightmare!
ReplyDeletePS I need a couple of good sources for velvet fabric that is reasonable
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
I just love the contrast piping!!!! It really adds so much to this sofa.
ReplyDeleteI just love the contrast piping!!!! It really adds so much to this sofa.
ReplyDeleteI wish you didn't mention what you paid because it is such an unfair representation to what upholstery costs really are around the country. This shop is charging an outrageously low amount for that job. Upholstery is very laborious, particularly for a large sofa, and depending upon the amount of work that is required for the innards [springwork, new padding, new foam and wrap, etc.] it is not unusual for a sofa to cost $1000+.
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you're saying. The low $525 price was only for the fabric recovering. There was no spring work or interior work needed here. Not sure how that would change the pricing.
The $525 works for the people at Jensens because they run a small shop (it's just a husband-wife duo) and they live in a very rural area where the cost of living is super low. I spent a lot of time and gas money to get down to Maryland, so when all is said and done, I probably paid about what I would have in Philly or Jersey (not the city though).
I love the Jensens though and feel glad when I have a chance to support them, both directly through my business and by referring others. They advertise their pricing on their site, so I thought it would be fine to write it here. I think there are small shops all over the US, in out-of-the-way places, with similar pricing. I think it's really important to support those people.
Thanks!
HI Kerry - The shop is in Rising Sun Maryland. There's a link in the post. Highly recommend them!
ReplyDeleteKerrie P - I used 14 yards for the sofa and they were able to make that work (even with alllllll those cushions) because they railroaded the velvet. It was pretty down to the wire though! If I had done a pattern, we would have needed much, much more than that. Probably double.
Emily - I am dying! Best story ever! I have a couple of those "Doh!" stories myself. I don't let myself think of them too often though! :)
Kim and Jessamie - I didn't treat the fabric first, though I've used spray on stain guards before and they see to work fine. There's a place in the city that teflon coats fabric for about $6 a yard, and that makes woven fabrics pretty much impermeable! :) I'm taking my chances with the untreated velvet though and just keeping my trusty Folex nearby. Claire woke up really early last month and on her own climbed up onto the counter and found some red crystal light somehow and made herself a (super concentrated) glass which she carried over to the new sofa ON A TRAY (!!!!!!) and of course the whole thing went everywhere. All over the jute rug and all over one entire cushion seat. It looked like a crime scene! Not such a fun thing to be woken up to! Claire and I cleaned it up and both the rug and the sofa fared well (especially the sofa - not a trace there). Not sure if you've had red crystal light spill in your house before, but it's basically red dye, so we are feeling like it's going to be a sturdy velvet! :) Also, I've vowed to never buy Crystal light ever, ever, ever.
Pam - Yup, Rising Sun! They are great. You'll love them. :)
Bridget - I bought the velvet at JEM's in Tribeca, which is a fabric clearinghouse and they don't have the fabric info. So sorry! I wish I knew the maker. I'd buy more colors in the same line. It's so soft and very stain-repellent (see above!).
Gigi - There's a link to the post about the Chesterfield in the post above. I bought it on eBay (it's vintage-ish Hickory Chair from the 70s). Probably need to get it reupholstered too. :)
Karena - Duralee is my go-to for affordable velvets. There is an upholstery velvet line that is especially affordable if you have an account with them. Kravet has some very nice velvets too, just a bit pricier than the Duralee. The other trade lines are much pricier. Oh, Robert Allen/Beacon Hill is another good place to look. If you can afford $30/yard or so, I think it's good to buy through trade so you know the fabric's fiber mix and it's durability in double rubs. You can buy velvet cheaper at warehouses, but it's a bit of a gamble. If you find something you really like though. fold an edge on top of itself and rub really hard for a couple minutes and see how the pile stands up to that. Any pilling or thinning is bad news.
Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts!!
xoxo
Hello JENNY,
ReplyDeleteHere I see your ideas,It looks so fantastic!! I have found some CRAZY awesome stuff there!Sofa Sets. you can find it and share, tweet it to all.
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ReplyDeleteHi Jenny, love this post and your blog in general! Can you recommend a specific type of upholstery fabric that's heavy duty (for those with kids) and not microfiber?
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny,m really impressed by your blog ...
ReplyDeletevery lovely sofa's...
great stuff
Hi Jenny! I'm toying with the idea of reupholstering a sofa (probably should try a chair first for practice) but wondering how much of your new baker sofa is sewing and how much is staples?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Crystal