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I have a 3-person Baker white couch from 1993. The fabric is a bit worn. The frame looks okay. The down inside the pillows feel fine. I am thinking reupholste the couch. Is it a good idea? what if I buy my own fabric and hire somebody to do it? Thanks.
I don't know much about Baker as a brand/quality but it seems like the couch has held up and still sits well. I would check in your area if you have local upholstery shops and see what they would recommend and at what price. As for buying the fabric yourself you might be paying more than an upholstery shop would unless you find a great deal.
My understanding is that Baker furniture is very high quality indeed. If you love the lines and feel of the sofa, I would think it would absolutely be worth recovering.
We've had much success getting furniture reupholstered. My upholsterer usu. replaced or wrapped the cushions. I was always pleased since the sofa I was covering was a well built American made sofa. We bought it in 1973 and used it continuously until 1985, then recovered it and moved it to my husband's office, then recovered it and gave it to one of my daughters. I think they gave it away about 5 years ago after they had recovered it a couple of times as well. It really held up-30 years.
This is the way it worked with the upholsterer I always used. If I bought the fabric from the upholsterer and they damaged the fabric in someway while they were recovering or made a mistake, then they were liable for replacing the fabric. If I used my own fabric and they damaged it, then I had to find more fabric on my own and assume the loss. They were really liable but since they were not making money off of the fabric, they did not consider themselves liable.
The other thing was that they charged a little more for the labor if I used my own fabric as they make money when they sell the fabric.
I usually bought my own fabric and only had a problem one time when they made an error in calculating yardage. I was left searching for more fabric that had been discontinued.
The last time I got a quote on reupholstery, it cost almost as much as a new chair would have cost. That was before this economy. You might just price it out to see which would be best.
If you do reupholster, go over every single detail carefully to make sure they know exactly what you want. My experience was that they were more technical people than designers. What they thought looked well usu. was not what I had in mind. I learned to be more specific and put everything in writing on the quote.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
I agree that Baker is a very high quality product. Reupholstering is probably a very good idea. I know that some people have found reupholstering to be just as expensive as buying a new piece. I don't think that is the case here.
What makes reupholstering expensive is when the 8-way hand tied coils need to be re-tied or replaced and the down in the cushions also needs to be replaced or the frame needs to be repaired. Those can be expensive repairs.
In this case it sounds as though the frame and springs are still in good shape, and the down does not need to be replaced. All that needs to be done is to remove the old fabric and replace it with the new. If your new fabric does not need to have patterns matched up it should be a very inexpensive job. If you are working with a very delicate fabric (like silk) or matching is required or your sofa is a very unusual shape it will be a few hundred dollars more.
If you are near North Carolina I can give you the name of a great reupholsterer (who also builds custom sofas from scratch) and who is not very expensive.
Jeff Frank
Simplicity Sofas