I don't know that it would be any less expensive, but I would try and find either a drapery workroom or upholsterer in your area.

Agree. I ordered custom outdoor cushions online and I hated the inserts.

There are some DIY bench cushion instructions available on you tube. Basically, it's a layering sandwich of thin plywood, foam, batting and fabric. The fabric wraps around and is stapled to the plywood (similar to covering a dining room chair).

I used an upholsterer in my area. Very reasonable way to get custom work.

We used an upholsterer in our area. But I bought the fabric first...they can get pricey if you buy the fabric through them. But check first. Not all of them will do it for labor only and want you to buy their fabric.

Also check at the independent fabric stores...a lot of them have people who will do the work if you buy the materials from them.

Start asking around. Friends, neighbors even the tailor at your local dry cleaners.

The most affordable will be an independent person, possibly working from their own home.

OT: Rebecca, what granite did you use in your kitchen?

Eld6161, it's called White Ice. I live in New England. As you probably know, granite can be named differently, regionally. It's a creamy white background with charcoal gray and warm beige in the veining. My kids call it cookies and cream. ;)

I recently made a new a new cushion for my kitchen bankquette. I don't have a sewing machine, but I hand sewed it myself. It was easy. I made a big pocket that I could slip the new cushion in. It took awhile, but it wasn't hard at all. I used green foam from Joann's (print off their coupon) and fabric from hobby lobby. Make sure that you let the foam off gas for at least a couple of wks before you bring it in the house. Good luck. You don't need a zipper, you can use Velcro or other fasteners, or nothing to keep the cushion in the pocket. I used my old cushion for the back. I spent less than 100.00 for everything. My cushion is about 7 ft long.

I had one made for a window seat via Customs Cushions (an online vendor that I must have learned about via GW.) I liked the site because you could price out different fabrics and other options based on your specific preferences and size. I believe it cost about $350 for a 7ft long bench cushion, but I overdid the cushion depth a bit. It's held up well in our heavily used family room.

I had a bunch in my house before last. So many, and at the times I had two toddlers, so I took shortcuts on a lot of them. If you don't want to take shortcuts or sew them yourself, they get expensive pretty quickly. I never did get a quote under $300, even for the small ones. In comparison, I used a Joann's coupon for the foam on each one I made, and then special ordered or used specialty fabric from a higher end store and they still were all under $100. I actually think the smaller one I made for less than $50 when special order fabrics were 40% off.

I had the longest one in the family room made, and it was right when the cost of petroleum was really high about 10 years ago, which made foam really expensive, and it cost more than any other piece of upholstered furniture I had at the time. (although, to be fair, I was a young mom with mostly cheap, new family furniture).

In my bedroom I bought the foam and wrapped it kind of like a present so the folds on the ends were "pretty," ironed it with starch, and then hot glued it underneath and where it wouldn't show. I always planned to go back and sew it when I had time but it held up and looked great so I never did. In another room where I wanted to be able to remove the cover to wash I sewed it myself, and it was very simple, I did it in an hour or two. If you have a sewing machine, you don't even need "skills," it's really turning the fabric inside out over the cushion, pinning it together, and sewing straight lines. I didn't do a zipper on that one because the bench had 3 wooden sides that hid it anyway, so I made the back a little longer and used snaps to tuck in underneath. The last one was the most complicated, it was more "real" sewing with a zipper and welting for my living room.

A little late here, but as I didn't have time to bother with the local workrooms (normally a great idea) I used CushionSource. There are usually coupons available and their work is decent. They offer cushion upgrade options (wrapped will feel nicer), custom shapes and COM (a rarity). Pricing for me was under $150 for a 4ft bench.

Wow, these are all great ideas. I'm especially impressed by the suggestion to wrap it like a present and hot glue at the bottom - very creative.