YUM!!!! I am JEALOUS!!!! If it's sturdy with no wobble and comfy, IMO it would be worth it, I at least don't see that kind of detail very often around here. Do you like the upholstery and/or can manage reupholstering it? No harm in trying offering $125, they might take it and you can always go up to their asking. Just put the other $25 in a different pocket.

My thoughts exactly, mari. The upholstery I'm not crazy about, but it would do for the time being. The thing is: not sure I could reupholster it myself, since I have absolutely no talent in that area. I'd probably have to pay someone to do it. I'm guessing that would run a couple hundred or so, so I'd end up paying $325-350. Depends on how much I like it irl, I suppose.

I'm sure one of the more experienced upholsterers would weigh in but to my admittedly somewhat clueless ;-) eye it looks like one where the upholstery could basically be stapled on and the seams covered with gimp or nailstrip like they have on the front, rather than sewing it. Worse comes to worst, you could put the new upholstery over the old and take it off if it looks ghastly. When I lived in Lynn, Zimmans had a great "bargain basement" for relatively inexpensive fabric. (I'm thinking about maybe trying to find somewhere to take an upholstery class in a year or two so I can tackle that couch cost-effectively. Did I tell you we're putting it in the living room when we get our moving straps back and can move that weighty beast? It's an awesome napping couch! BTW, my computer is in the shop so I won't be able to answer your email until late next week.)

BTW, John says it will look fabulous in your house. :-)

I'm waiting to hear back from the seller. :) I'm thinking that the upholstery it has on it now would go fabulously in my bedroom, and we kind of need a new chair for in there. We'll see. I think I really do like the chair, though. Thanks for the link: I've been to Zimmans only once and there are SO MANY selections, I thought my head would spin right off! It *is* a great place, though.

That's great that the couch has turned out to be so loved. Makes me happy. :)

*waves to John*

Since I'm not an expert in antiques, the way I tend to judge the value of something is by comparing it against what something like that would cost new. If it is about what it would cost new and it's nicer quality than what I can find new then I buy it. I figure in 10 years, the new thing will just be "used" and worth a fraction of what I paid for it but the antique will hold its value (or maybe even go up) if I decide it doesn't work for me anymore.

I think the price as is is worth it but then when you compare against something new and totally custom if you reupholster, I think it is still worth it. A similar chair at a place like calico corners (something like Gabrielle's chair) is $1179 plus the cost of fabric. BTW it says it uses 3 yards for solids up to 4.5 yards for something with a large repeat. So for 1/4 of the price you have something that will probably hold its value.

Thanks, Lisa. I *thought* that an equivalent-quality new chair would be substantially more, but I'm not particularly knowledgeable about such things.

Hi Organic, I'm more a lurker than participant around here but I just wanted to say that chair looks really nice and don't dismiss recovering the chair yourself. I've recovered / reupholstered 4 chairs in the last year and these are the first I'd ever tried. Each one looked a little better than the last but all were chairs I (and my DS & DIL) already owned so only investment was in material. Anyway, what I am getting at is that chair doesn't look too too difficult. The upholstery looks to be in good shape and it does not look as though the chair will need much else. If you decide to get the chair, I say give the reupholstering a try. These websites are very informative.
http://georgemfabric.com/yardage.htm
http://www.upholster.com/howto/reupch.html
http://www.carrscorner.com/yabbse/index.php?PHPSESSID=ffedbaa7396ed38f26ee53ca97c7a522&board=7.0
Also, my digital camera was very helpful. I took pictures of each and every step along the way as I REMOVED the old cover and this helped soooo much when it came time to reverse the process. I enjoyed it so much I now have two more chairs,from craigslist for $10.00 each :) sitting in my garage to start after the holidays. You can always take it to a professional if things don't work out. :D
Mry

I think that's a lovely chair and if it's in good structural shape it's certainly worth $150--especiallly if you could live with the upholstery for a while. I think you could make the existing upholstery look fabulous by simply adding a nice coordinating pillow. It's great that it's a stripe. I agree with Mari, though, and would offer them less. I think being so close to the holidays might help--less people probably out there looking for "projects". Any minor blemishes/scratches on the wood can be touched up with Howard's Restore-A-Finish. It's a great chair that could be used in many ways throughout a home!

mry: Thanks so much for those links. If I decide to recover the chair--yikes!--they will certainly come in handy. On another note: I'd love to see the before-and-after pics of your own chairs!

teeda: Hadn't even thought of the pillow idea--a good one! I used Howard's on my kitchen cabinets and you're right: a little Howard's would probably do the trick on any dents or dings. :)

I have an appointment to see it next Sunday!

This would be easy to reupholster. To do reupholstery, you just take it apart, and put it back together in the same way you took it apart. It can help to take pictures, but the most helpful thing is to get out a felt tip marker and mark the old pieces, and that wouldn't even be necessary with this. There are only three pieces, and no sewing at all.

Take off the bottom fabric. Pay attention to how it's attached, which is probably just with a staple gun. Use it as a pattern laying it directly on your new fabric. Cut your new fabric generously -- you can always trim away excess with your scissors, but you can't add fabric back. Stretch your new fabric around the chair being careful to pull it evenly and staple it in place.

Do the same with the front of the back of the chair.

For the back, remove it and you'll probably find cardboard strips with tacks through them fastening it to the chair. You can buy those cardboard strips at fabric stores with or without the tacks in them. You can buy the tacks, too. Just use it as a pattern as you did the others, to cut out your new fabric. Put the strips (you'll want pre-tacked for this) exactly where they were on the old piece, and simply hammer it back in place. You can also buy a little tool that is dandy for removing the old staples.

Just think of it like a puzzle. You just take it apart, and then put it back together in the exact same way. And there's only three pieces in this puzzle.

Note: Avoid stripes, checks and plaids, or anything that's very geometric in your new fabric. They're tough to work with as you must get everything *exactly* straight. Stick with solids or patterns like florals or paisleys.

When you take the chair apart, examine the padding. If it's in real good shape and comfy to sit on beforehand, you can just cover over it. If it's dirty, or crumbling, toss it out. Have the fabric store cut you new foam pieces and cover those with polyester batting sheets until it's comfy and the right dimensions. You can use your staple gun to attach the polyester sheets, holding the foam down.

You will need:
- A good staple remover meant for upholstery work. (optional)
- A screwdriver and plyers to get the staples out you can't get with the staple remover. You can just use this and skip the staple remover if you like.
- Cardboard strips with tacks in.
- Foam and polyester batting if needed.
- A hammer.

Worst case scenario: The chair cushion and front of the back are EASY. You'll be amazed. The only challenge on this chair will be the back of the back and I believe you can do it. But let's say you find you don't feel you can. Just pay a professional to attach the back for you and you'll save a lot of $ by not paying him/her to do the rest.

If the wood is in good shape, don't touch it. If the chair is wobbly, you just pry apart the joints and re-glue them, but you'll probably need woodworking clamps. If the springs need to be re-tied there are diagrams and photos on the web of how to do it. But if the whole chair is structurally unsound, you may want to pay a reupholsterer to do the whole thing for you.

Contact 3-4 reupholsterers. Ask for their email addy. Send them a picture of the chair by email and ask them how much to do it if you supply the fabric.

hmmm, never posted a pic before, but I'll try
this is one we found in my MIL's house (now DS2's house)

organic_smallhome: No expert here, as I just antiques similar to kgwlisa> I've found I can usually get antiques for a fraction of the cost of new--sometimes they are called "reproduction" antique--meaning they are 50-70 years old instead of 100+ years, but if you like it and the condition is good, then for that price I don't think you can go wrong. I've also priced new wood chairs at Calico Corners and that is correct they price in around $1,000; though keep in mind, that includes the LABOR to upholster the chair with fabric you purchase by the yard. Whereas, if you have them reupholster a chair, you need to pay for the fabric plus labor. I recently bought two french style chairs on eBay that I plan to have reupholstered. The quote I received from Calico Corners was about $400/chair--though mine are more complex with a lower cushion.

One concern I have which was not addressed in the reupholstering is whether or not you want to restuff as well. I'm leaning towards doing mine as I know they've been around 30-40 years old and since I don't know where it's been, if I'm going to effort to replace the fabric, I'd rather have new stuffing as well. Some folks recommend down which I'm considering.

mry19: I am very impressed with your DIY reupolstering. In particular, I like the two antique wood chairs. Beautiful!

That is a very nice chair with good carving on the arms. Unless I loved it a lot and was totally sure I could do the reupholstery myself, I probably would not pay that much. (I do love that chair, just not for the price) I have one that is merely similar, no carving, and I paid under $20 for it many years ago. I have another with similar carving, but more of a bergere chair, that I paid $65 for in a consignment store in 1999. My top price might be about $100. Now, does that mean I think you shouldn't get it or pay $150? Nope. Whatever the market will bear, right?
But what I might do, is go see the chair and bring cash. After sitting, looking, fondling, sitting, looking, and pronouncing it very nice......(people love compliments on their stuff!) I would step back and ask, "So, what's the lowest you feel that you could go on this chair? If I do buy it, I would need to have it done to work in my room, so I need to take that into consideration when buying." Perhaps your seller will offer your price. Maybe $100. Maybe less. If they don't, you can counteroffer what you want to pay. Then, the purchase will be sweeter and you can afford nicer fabric. It won't take more than about 3 yards on that one, and you CAN do it yourself if the padding and everything is in fairly good shape.
Here's a pic of my chair in my (current dining room) used-to-be front LR. I haven't had mine redone yet, because I can't decide on fabric and I want to have my guy do it that does refinishing too. The carving is very blackened with age.

That is a steal. The chair and the carvings look beautiful. Don't you dare try to lower the price! :) Give them the $150. I'd think it is worth quite a bit more and much more to a person who needs a chair -- quite exp to buy new :) And the upholstery works too? !

Ah Squirrel.............you make me sound like such a cheapskate.

Oh yeah. I actually AM a cheapskate. Now I feel bad about offering $500 to the people who had the nice 1940's Mahogany bedroom set on CL last year. They advertised for $800. And it was worth $800........but nobody came for it except my DD and me. And I only brought $500.
(She loves it!)

Red

Sorry, Red -- I'm guilty of just looking at the pictures! lol. I get so right-brained that I truly just glaze over if I see something to actually read, lol :) All I actually saw about bargaining was Mari's little blurb telling her to knock $25 off! $150 for a nice chair, with carvings, is dirt cheap around here! Whadda people want?!

Power to those who can find good deals. I guess I'm not much of a bargainer -- unless I were to think they're asking a bit much for something.

Looks like a nice chair from here, although I agree the upholstery doesn't look so enticing. But I'd want to strip it down and cover it.

Also take into account that "many years ago" victorian era furniture was considered trash by most people. It's only somewhat recently that its value has started to come up again. $20 for a chair like that in an area where antiques are big (like New England) is a pretty unreasonable I think.

I'm a bit of a bargainer but I also try to be fair figuring that good bargaining karma will come when I try to sell something. :)

Mry193, those chairs look great! Did you reupholster them yourself?

valinsv & oceanana, Thanks for the compliment! I know where all my errors are but I am still rather proud of them. The chairs are all special, especially the ones from my husband, mom and mom in law, since they are no longer with us. It's nice to know DS1 now has his dad's chair in his home. And the chair from my mom's home was the one Santa sat in every Christmas eve for ... uh, well over 35 years. It was in mom's basement, the only place that could hold the entire family as I have 11 siblings, most married with children and grandchildren etc......

Mry, how hard were the recliners to do? I have a couple in the basement I should re-cover. Are those done in a faux suede? Or is that velvet? Did you take classes? Or like me did you just take them apart and put them back together the same way? They all look just lovely. That's a lot of work!

May I hijack the thread and also ask for opinions? I'd want to redo this chair in red microsuede. It's the bottom cushion that gives me pause... but the price is downright amazing.

http://elpaso.craigslist.org/fur/501255198.html

Oceanna, The recliners were more time consuming than hard. I see from your earlier post that you have way more experience doing this than I do. It's just as you said .. it's like a puzzle, take it apart and then put it back together. I did have to take apart some of the mechanics to get to everything and that's where taking pictures really helped. On one recliner I thought I was completely finished and then saw I had a left over screw! Checked my pics, saw what I did wrong, took part of the 'puzzle' apart again and redid it. Live & Learn! And, the green fabric is prob a faux suede and very thick and heavy, making it a little hard to sew and work with, but should be very durable. I found a fabric outlet that I passed going to meetings once a month and everything was $6.95 a yard. After about a year of stopping in they had a going out of business sale with much of the upholstery fabric 50 to 75 % off, so I took my DDIL to pick out the fabric for the recliners. She's happy and that makes DS1 happy and that makes me happy! :)
Organic smallhome - Good luck Sunday, I hope the chair is just what you want. I always offer less than the asking price,I am a major cheapskate and I think bartering is part of the fun and expected. The seller can always say no and then the ball is back in your court. If you do decide to reupholster it yourself .. another word of advice ... pad your hammer before putting the back on or the tacks heads can ruin the fabric .. and tap gently. Learn from my mistake :)
Redbazel, $500.00 for a 1940's mahogany bedroom set? They were asking $800.00? Cheapskate or not, I'd be one happy camper! Way to go!!

Hi Walkin_yesindeed, .... love your 'name' ...
Are you referring to the one for $25.00? I say Go for It ... but then I've very recently gotten bit by the CL bug and am becoming 'sicker' by the day. I suggest getting the chair for $25.00 (or less) and do some test drive recovering in an old sheet or something. I found the seat cushions with cording can be tricky but do-able. If you have worked with cording before, then I would guess you will not have many probs. Oh, something to consider is the cushion foam. It might need to be replaced so you may want to price check a new cushion. I found a place locally (Sunshine Foam Co) for DS's sofa cushion (a friend's Great Dane tore it apart while they were dog watching) anyway, the cut foam was close to $50.00 .. for one cushion. I've since found places online that appear to be more reasonable but have not had to try them yet.

Skimmed responses (working with numbers and can't half see ;)
In my area (Chicago metro) $150 is not outlandish for antique/vintage upholstered chairs that don't need an overhaul. Non-upholstered typical go for $60-$75 in nice condition. I've gotten a few at auction for $25, but they needed work.

Wanted to suggest too that you not let reupholstering scare you. I've done two chairs (simple, nothing elaborate) and it was not nearly as daunting as I anticipated. (Figured if my Gram could do it, so could I, and I just dove in ;) More elaborate chairs would take more study and time, but you've been given good info here.

I like the chair (and the upholstery on it now) a lot! If you love it go for it!

Are you finding many other options? That really drives the price in my mind. I've been used-chair shopping for months now, looking at Boston CL too, and the right style and size has never really come up. Once, I found something that would work, but it was already gone by the time I saw it. Because of that, if I found what I'm looking for for $150, I would do it in a minute. There are way too many mondo-overstuffed behemoth chairs there if you ask me! :)

Wow. REALLY helpful responses!

oceanna: Thank you for the detailed instructions. If I do decide to reupholster myself, they will certainly be a BIG help.

mry: Thanks for posting the before-and-after pics. Clearly, you have an amazing talent for reupholstering: BEAUTIFUL job!!!!

squirrel: You crack me up. I might offer a *little* less, but if I love the chair, I'm fully prepared to pay the $150. :)

valinsv: Yikes: that's quite expensive. Just another argument for doing it myself.

redbazel: The red chair, right? It's gorgeous. Big enough to curl up in for a nap, it seems to me.

moonshadow: I'm fairly impatient when it comes to stuff like this--mostly because I have a lot of anxiety about being able to do the job correctly. But this job might be small enough for me to experiment--if I do decide to reupholster.

Will let you guys know how it goes! :)

bungalowhouse: I agree. I've been looking for awhile and this is the first chair I've found that I really like and is the right size, too. We shall see. . . . :)

let's see - for $150, you can get a modern chair with polyfoam cushions, upholstry fabric so thin I wouldn't make curtains out of it, and construction almost sure not to survive the next ten years.

so already - you're ahead of the game.

if I were appraising it, I would be checking closely, because the arm carvings don't look IDENTICAL to the leg motifs, and I'd be dismissive over the upholstry, which is obviously a contemporary job with no thought to historical accuracy, or the dignity of the chair (there is an unspoken rule about fabrics lighter in tone than the wood that I tend not to agree with, since it led to a whole lot of really nice furniture being painted 'ivory' to fit feminine decorating schemes)

but really - I agree with Bungalow about price being demand-driven - if you're in a region where a particular style or period predominates, finding anything 'else' can be a problem - like finding colonial pieces in California, or real Mission furniture in Georgia.

me?

I'd want to sit in it first, but yeah - I'd buy that chair :)

Since I'm still looking for extra dining chairs and considering a different sideboard, It made me think of you Organic, and whether or not you got the chair?

Red