Friday, February 8, 2013

The Problem with Vintage Sofas...

I have a love for furniture....old vintage furniture to be exact.  All kinds of vintage furniture too.  I don't discriminate, I'll take it all as long as I like it.  (Here's my latest desire coming up at an auction tomorrow that I won't be able to attend due to the stupid snow storm coming our way...BOO!)

Is that not just breath taking?  How cool, how rare, a dogbone sofa!!! 

 Now for the problems with vintage sofas... you can have to many, yes you really can!  I already have a sofa set with a matching chair.  Do I really need another sofa like the one pictured above? The other problem... with very old upholstered furniture most of the time it will need reupholstered and that's expensive.   My old furniture set, seen below in pictures from like 10 years ago at DeluxeVille, is in need of reupholstering.  The cushions have begun to disintegrate and is causing quite the stink. Yuck!! Have you ever noticed that most old furniture smells like cigarette smoke or is really stinky in general...well yeah because pretty much everyone smoked back then. Oh those bygone days when even smoking was made glamorous! 

livingroom

The other side 

I really love this old furniture set!   It's a great neutral color and I definitely think when I get it reupholstered I'll be sticking with a similar color.  So, is it a good investment to reupholster your old furniture?  I think so!  We all know that furniture made back then was made really well, not like most of today's put it together yourself crap.  So paying to get things spruced up is always a good idea over buying brand spanking new!  But how do you afford to do it?  Well, this has been something I've been thinking about for a while.  Some people take classes to learn how to reupholster furniture themselves, which sounds like an awesome idea to me, but I couldn't find a class near me.*Insert Mary sad face here*  However,  what I did find in my research was the only prison in the whole state of NJ (which is just a 20min hop skip and a jump down the highway from me) that runs an upholstery trade program for women inmates!  And because the program is run by the prison, all the labor is done for FREE ....the customer is only responsible for buying all the needed supplies such as fabric and foam or whatevers!  Well, hello!  That's just what I was looking for!  I spoke with one of the prison guards who helps with the program (he guards the women as they work...no I'm not shitting ya) and was told lots of interesting information about the program.  For instance it takes longer to get your work done there as all those pesky lock downs take away from valuable work time.  If I come to visit the program director to talk about fabrics and such, don't wear a bra with an underwire and don't wear beige.  Really, I'm not making this up, these were the important things that he shared with me in our 20 min phone conversation!  I also found out he's retiring soon and planning on moving to Vegas...apparently the housing market is really hot out there...and compared to the property taxes in New Jersey, you can live like a king in Vegas...well ain't that something Little Mama! 

I guess the point I'm trying to make is simple....reupholstering vintage furniture is a great idea and is probably cheaper than going to buy something new. Oh, it's also most likely better built!  If you're like me and can't afford to spend a lot of money on a professional to do the work for you, there are lots of other resources out there that can give you the same results but at a better price. 

I'll keep you posted on the progress...something tells me it'll be fairly interesting. 

~MaryDeluxe

17 comments:

  1. That auction sofa is killer! But so is your set. So you're going to do the prison upholstery thing? Sounds intriguing! I understand the "no underwire" rule but what's with the beige? Is it just because it's a highly unattractive color altogether ...or do the inmates wear beige? Do tell!

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    1. The inmates all wear beige! The guard said if I showed up wearing any beige what so ever I would not be allowed in. What happened to stripes? I think it would make a great series..."MaryDeluxe Goes to Prison"!

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  2. Man that sofa is just drool worthy! I've been keeping my eye out for vintage furniture but out here it can be a bit pricey. Our two year old sofa set is already starting to sag and had some boards break. Yeah. I'm so gonna buy older furniture now that we have a truck.

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  3. Be still my heart! What a shame you'll be snowed out, I have always admired your living room set and I agree I think its worth it to have them reupholstered rather than buying new. Hehehe I can't wait to read how this story develops!

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  4. I had my two antique/junk shop loveseat find redone about 10-12 years ago. Around $500.00 a piece.And that was not counting the material which I had snagged on sale at the local Joanne Fabrics.They did a very good job, but very expensive. The other thing was, they wouldn't even take on the job until they came out to look at the loveseats to make sure they were 'worthy' of being redone. (aka not the jumk you buy nowdays)If I had it to do over I would have picked a more neutral fabric ( I was in my large floral phase for one..the other isn't to bad with a striped pattern) Just like we learned from Devie and Dot...never get rid of a good piece..just keep getting it redone!!

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  5. I can't wait to see photos of the finished product. I know eventually I'm going to have to get mine redone too. When I found my couch, it was the color I had been looking for. I haven't done a lot of searching, but haven't seen many modern fabrics that look vintage - and not in aqua either. :) Please, keep us up to date in your search for the perfect fabric.

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  6. Looking at pictures of your decor make me happy! I can't wait to see the "after" photos when they are done. That sofa up for auction is amazing.

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  7. Love that sofa! And, yes they do sometimes smell weird, but I just found some awesome Rug Doctor smell remover that does wonders!

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  8. Our vintage sofa seat cushions were getting pretty saggy. They unzip - so for a cheap fix I bought that egg crate rolled up padding you buy for beds - and I cut it to size and stuffed it in on top of the old padding. Now, they are nice and firm. Just an idea. I love both of the sofas you have listed!!!

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  9. I like your desired sofa a lot. I am kind of over the matching upholstery thing that was popular back in the day. I think stripes are better then beige but I really thought they wore those hideous orange jumpsuits.

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  10. I would have never even thought that would be a prison program. How lucky for you to have found it - sounds like a steal.

    I have only ever had to visit one prison and they wore blue jumpsuits inside and anyone outside who had permission to do outdoor jobs wore bright orange jumpsuits.

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  11. "I'm not shitting ya," sorry but that made me laugh out loud, coming from the usually rather proper Mary Deluxe :D.

    I was wondering about the beige too, glad someone else asked!

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  12. Hi! I found your blog a few years ago and have been following ever since. I just started an MCM decorating blog myself since we just bought our first home, a little '51 ranch home in the 'burbs! I'm from Sri Lanka and I'm trying to bring together both MCM and Sri Lankan style together on a microscopic budget, lol! Anyway, I added your blog to my favorites list - hope that's okay! My blog's http://midceylontury.blogspot.com/

    We've had several vintage chairs reupholstered, including our darling little dining set which was made in 1950, and two MCM-looking office chairs from the '90s. I was very impressed with how they turned out, but you're right, they cost $$$$ to redo! But we saved for months and months and somehow got it done, because I think it's so worth the cost. I wish I could have found an affordable upholstering program like you did. Can't wait to see the finished results!

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  13. I love everything vintage!!

    www.trendinginfashion.blogspot.com

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  14. Haha- there's a riot goin' on up in cell block #9 with Mary Deluxe's vintage sofa cushions! ;) That's great that you found that place- can't beat the price! I just passed on a Kroehler chair at that thrift I took you to, because it had been hideously reupholstered in 70s stripes. I couldn't imagine being able to afford the reupholstery job on that- will definitely have to remember that place.

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  15. oh that sofa wow! I wish we could even find these things in the UK, I would kill for that even if I had to reupholster!

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  16. We bought vintage sofas because we liked the lines of them even though they were the wrong color. I did reupholster the chairs in our living room,but my worry about doing the sofas is that I will either seriously under or over estimate the amount of fabric I need. Doing it first with something inexpensive like muslin seems like too much trouble, but I doubt I'd be brave enough to take it to a prison re-education program to get it done.

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