Sounds good. In recent years, my sister who lives in Chicago/Indiana has purchased upholstery fabric at the place in Norwalk and had the work done in her own state. I can’t recall the name, but I will ask my mother.
I know the one you mean, Consolation. I don’t think it’s on Rt 7, but I know the one you mean. Here it is: http://www.banksvilledesignerfabrics.com/
No, that’s not the one. It’s near Sweet Sabrina’s, my go-to bakery in the area. I guess it’s actually on 123.
@Consolation—do you mean Leonard’s? I am not sure if they are still open…
http://www.leonardsupholstery.com
Artee Fabrics in Westport closed recently.
Thanks, @Consolation. I’ll look for it.
We recently replaced some items, and being on a budget because of college costs and such, we couldn’t go upscale. We tried a discount chain in our area (Bob’s Discount Furniture) and we were surprised at what we found. Normally cheap furniture is just that, and after shopping conventional stores then going here, what we found was that their stuff was both cheaper, had more style and seemed to be well made. We bought a new couch there, and recently bought a dining room set, together they cost less than either item would have at a standard furniture store (talking Macy’s furniture store, local ‘medium cost’ stores). Put it this way, I bought dining room chairs at a local store that specializes in dining room furniture, and the chairs cost more than the table and chair we bough recently, and those chairs fell apart within a year, I kept them patched together, but the wood was crap, the build was shoddy, and they charged a fortune…so far the couch has been a delight, and hopefully the dining room set will prove out to be as well.
We live in Bob’s Discount Furniture area also. My only beef…their furniture is HUGE. Everything is oversized, it seems. We were looking for an apartment size sofa…72-80 inches…and they had none.
We know a lot of folks who have gotten family room furniture there and were very happy with it…but they also had room for large pieces. Our family room is a decent size, but we didn’t want a wall to wall sofa.
I may have mentioned up-thread: We bought a slightly used Bob’s Discount Furniture couch for the family room and – while it’s just the two of us now – it’s holding up fine. And if it doesn’t, I’m fine with that too.
Here’s the Bob’s sofa that we currently have: http://www.mybobs.com/living-room-furniture/sofas/skyline-sofa
There’s a particular Mitchell Gold /Bob Williams sofa I really want: http://www.mgbwhome.com/ALEX-SOFA-79-BRavailable-online-and-in-stores-P8213.aspx
But, for $2,000 difference in price, I don’t know if I’ll ever get the Mitchell Gold one.
VaBlueBird: I bought my furniture direct from North Carolina also. This was before the housing crash. The retailer I bought from went out of business, unfortunately. I try to buy American made on big ticket items when I can.
@CT1417, it looks like Leonard’s is in the right area. I just drove by there last week and the place didn’t look closed. But I’ve never actually shopped there. My mother and sister started using it after I moved to Maine.
I’m resurrecting this thread because I have started to un-upholster a chair that I will then reupholster. For those folks who have done one of these projects, I need some technical advice.
As I deconstruct the existing upholstery, I see that it is attached very well with about 8 million staples. I realize that my current little staple gun will not be sufficient to staple all the new fabric to this chair, so I am looking for something specifically intended for upholstery work. I’ve found several staple guns on Amazon with superb reviews for upholstery, but each one requires an air compressor. So here are my questions:
- Has anyone here ever used an air compressor?
- Is it dangerous?
- Do you have a recommendation for what one to buy? On Amazon, there are about 100 that look as if they might do, and I have idea which one is appropriate, cost-effective, and easy to use.
TIA.
You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din! B-)
@VeryHappy I have some chairs I would love to reupholster, they are excellent quality, but nearly 30 years old, It would be so expensive to pay someone to do it professionally, more than new chairs! I will be reading this thread to see if you get any great suggestions.
oops, wrong thread!
I would suggest heading to Home Depot or Lowes. I upholstered my DR chair seats using a regular staple gun…but it was my husband’s and he tends to buy good stuff. You need something you can manage yourself. I’ll bet they will let you try some at HD or Lowes.
I think an air compressor is overkill for furniture.
This may not be to many people’s taste but I have gotten nice quality used furniture on Craigslist at great prices. For example a $2000 cherry BDI Avion TV console in perfect condition for $300 for my 65 inch TV. A $2300 natural cherry Lyndon brand 72" long desk for $500. American Upholstery brand couch and recliner ($1000) as well as 2 Smith Brothers sectionals in like new condition (probably $4000 new each for $800 each).
Formal living furniture: Originally purchased in Cannell and Chaffin fifty years ago. Other pieces also from family pieces…as old as1850…den: (we are hard on furniture) leather sofas…replaced every 6 years. But the rest of the stuff is old. Our room…from my room as a kid. (My mom said buy once and then we’re done.)
Over the years I have learned how to recover pop out seats and restore and recover. And despite the fact that I don’t sew (I hot glued) I made drapes for the den. They lasted10 years.
Bet you didn’t picture me as a do it yourself kind of person. 
The reality is that there are, seriously, probably a thousand staples in what I’m un-uphostering now. It would be a tremendous convenience to just be able to go bam-bam-bam with the staple gun, instead of a really slow staple, staple, staple. (The sound effects don’t come across in this post!) It would save a lot of time and a lot of wear and tear on my hand. And, I’m doing this chair as a test. If I can reupholster this, I have several more projects to tackle.
Are there any air compressors that are recommended for upholstery? You want to be sure that the tension won’t damage the wood.
very exciting project!
What I’ve learned so far is that the air compressor is some sort of machine that is attached to the staple gun with an air hose, so it’s far away from the furniture piece… The air compressor can be set at a certain number of pounds per square inch – psi. As long as the psi is set correctly for the staple gun you’re using, there’s no risk.
Believe me, I have no interest in learning any of this stuff, but I recognize that without the right equipment, this project is doomed.