ORC Week 2: ReUpholstering a Bed

Yes, you read the title right. I bought a brand new upholstered bed and had it re-upholstered. I call it my stock furniture upgrade. I know it sounds crazy but it was actually the affordable way to get what I wanted. I was looking for the perfect greeny gray bed and only could find it one place. It was too expensive and too big. So why not upholster and affordable one? Crazy right? It is the centerpiece of the room so I wanted it to be something I loved so I decided to go for it and this is how it turned out.

Last week (ummm.. a few days ago) I posted the true before pictures of my master bedroom, my inspiration, and my design plan.  In the first stage of this makeover we moved the room forward by painting the walls Benjamin Moore Gray Owl with 75% of the formula. Same great color… just a little lighter. Four years ago we restored the floor and the trim. Taking off, refinishing, and piecing back together the trim was enough to put renovations on the back burner for about 4 years. Just kidding.. we had a lot left to do elsewhere so our room took a back seat. The trim is AMAZING. They don’t make trim like this in new homes anymore. It’s a shame.

This wall is the best wall for the bed. You could actually work the layout of the room with a king bed if you put it against the window wall. We have never slept in a king so this wall with a queen was the plan. The house is 101 years old. It already had one sconce on the wall. When we rewired the house we added two for lighting over the bed. The door to the closet was taken off for a better solution (it would never open fully because of the door to the room). We still need to paint the door. The door color gives you a glimpse back to what ALL the trim in the house when we bought it.  Yikes… right? Original wood floors re-stained to the original color is my favorite part of old houses.

The Inspiration…

Last week I explained that I really was in love with the above green bed from Anthropologie. The color was definitely green but not too green.. more of a gray green. I thought about just picking a gray bed, because you can find so many stylish and affordable ones, but I couldn’t get my mind off this pretty green bed. ( I LOVE gray bed’s but I just wanted something a little different) The muted green was just the right amount of color but still neutral. What was for sure, was I did not love with the $1998 price. Even on sale at 30% off the bed was close to $2000 with shipping and taxes.  In addition the bed didn’t have many reviews. The few reviews were more “so so”. I will actually splurge on a bed because sleeping is important But… with a  bed in the $2000+ price range I want the reviews to say things like  “This is the best bed ever” or “this is the only bed I will ever sleep in again” .

The Search:

I began the adventure of finding something similar yet affordable. There has got to be more out there right?

I logged in some serious internet hours on this search. Believe me once the Google ADs starting catching on I am sure I didn’t miss a green bed out there. Anyway, I could not find one affordable option.  I found affordable apple green, emerald green, olive green, army green, and hunter green beds…but there were only a few other gray green beds I could find.

I ordered a swatch from Anthropologie to have as a reference and nothing else measured up.  Most stores, like Serena and Lily and Ballard Designs, who offer a style of bed with upholstery options had a grey green color I could be happy with. The problem was price ($2,000 – $4000 yikes!) These stores also didn’t have the bed style I wanted.

The only affordable bed I found even close to grayish green was this Ella bed from Overstock. The headboard was too low, I didn’t want tufting, I didn’t love the legs, and I wasn’t for sure it was the right color (no swatches). Most importantly there were absolutely no reviews. I didn’t love it enough to be the first to try it.

I found the Ella bed from Room and Board. (Hilarious that the only other gray-green bed option is also named “Ella”) The dimensions were right and the “View Cloud” fabric selection seemed to be the perfect color. I ordered the swatch. The velvet wasn’t as lush feeling as the Anthropologie velvet but it was spot on color wise. In addition, the Ella bed has high reviews. I didn’t love the steel colored legs but the biggest negative was the cost for the bed. The price + shipping + taxes was $1899.00 and Room and Board never has sales. I decided it was not worth the investment so I started saving for this bed.

The Game Changer….

A few months later (as I am saving my pennies) House Beautiful started their One Room Challenge Series for fall 2017. The above room is a master bedroom done by Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook for the ORC series. I love the room and everything about it, but I was immediately was drawn to the bed.  It was the perfect height, looked like it had enough distance between the floor and bottom of the bed to clear the top of my wall trim, and it was the right style. I followed the link and my intuition was right. It was the perfect bed with many great reviews.

The bed used is the the Britney Bed from Alpine Furniture. It is available at Hayneedle, Overstock, Amazon, Wayfair and many other places. This specific bed currently is available at Hayneedle for $390. The week of the 2017 ORC reveal Hayneedle had this bed on sale.  The shipping was free but with taxes the total was only $343.00. The only problem was it only comes in one color.  NOOOOOO! But then I began starting to think about re-upholstering the store bought bed.

Am I crazy? Is this possible?

I would not think twice about splurging on a West Elm bed. It’s good quality and would last. The reality is I would buy the West Elm bed on sale, but even then, I would pay $200 for shipping and taxes. My favorite custom upholstered bed there, on sale for 40% off (a sale they have occasionally), was $799 +$200 shipping + $100 in taxes… $1100. If I could pull off the re-upholstery for at or under that price I decided to try it.

The Purchase:

I had 48 hours before the sale was over…

I quickly emailed the above photo to a couple of reputable upholstery shops in Wichita and got a mixture of prices and responses. A few quotes were too high and would be even higher if I didn’t use their fabrics. Corrine from Corrines Wichita Upholstery quoted a bid of $600  AND… I could bring in 6 yards of my own with no charge. I had faith I could find 6 yards of fabric that I liked for a couple hundred dollars. I bought the bed.

The bed arrived and we put it together just to make sure we liked it comfort and quality wise. I had the read the reviews but I wanted to make sure we liked it before we changed it.  We LOVED the bed. It is actually a very light grey…not beige. The picture online is deceiving. It is so pretty I almost decided against upholstering, but my husband actually reminded me of my vision. I could wait a couple more sleeps for the bed I wanted.

The Upholstery Upgrade:

When I had pulled the trigger on the bed I started ordering fabric samples to compare to the ones from Anthropolgie and Room and Board. I am so glad I ordered swatches because they NEVER looked the same in person. AND… your room dynamics DO make a difference on how the green looks. The green’s I loved are true neutrals. They are influenced by their surroundings. All the lighter green swatches looked like grey in my room with three HUGE windows. My husband and friends would see the light green swatch and say “I thought you wanted green?” Why go to the trouble when I can just buy any color of gray bed I wanted from any store. I realized I had compared the Room and Board swatch to the Anthropologie swatch but had not put it in the room after it was painted. I would have ordered this awesome green bed… and it would have looked gray!

Nothing wrong with a gray bed unless you putting extra effort into affordably splurging on a green bed!

I dodged a HUGE bullet. My advice to you is put swatches in your room. The elements of your room can change a neutral leaning color. I am thankful for the swatches because in my space,  the darker swatches were looking lighter in the room.

SourceThe winner was Fabricut Charlotte Moss COMO Sage in Performance Velvet.  I actually found it online here.  Corrine from Wichita Upholstery gave me guidelines for the fabric that would work best to upholster the bed so I went to the brand’s website to look up details about the fabric. Low and behold I found a local fabric store in Wichita who had swatches and could order it.

The fabric was priced $30 a yard  with an added 25% off sale. I bought 7 yards for $160.00.  In the end, we only needed 6 yards but I am glad I bought extra.

The Arrival:

I dropped off the bed  and the fabric and waited. Upholstery takes time, especially when your upholsterer is good and affordable. Then last week…. and my bed finally arrived and we put it back together.

I love this bed! I love the style, I love the color, and I love the comfort! One little detail I love about the bed is the floor clearance. I have 7inch tall base trim so any bed without enough floor clearance would have a gap between the headboard and wall. The headboard is nice and flush against the wall.

Cost Breakdown:

• Britney Bed by Alpine via Hayneedle $343
• Upholstery cost: $600
• Fabric Samples: $15
• Fabric: $160

Total Cost: $1118 

I was $18 over my budget and $1000 under my inspiration beds. I see it as spending an extra $18 to get the color I wanted.

Want to try this?

Tips for upgrading a store-bought item with new upholstery…

1. Find your inspiration bed. If the inspiration can only be found in your head draw a picture/sketch.
2. Order a swatch from your inspiration bed. If there is none, find a fabric swatch from a fabric store.
3. Be absolutely sure the bed you want is not out there for an affordable price. Take the time to look online and in stores.
4. Measure you space accurately.
5. Make a plan. Use Photoshop, Pinterest, or a free photo collage site to pull things together. Get everyone on board involved. If they are not involved… listen and adjust.
6. Find an extremely affordable bed with high reviews. I like to look at Hayneedle, Overstock, Amazon, Wayfair, Joss and Main, and All Modern.
7. Screenshot a picture and email upholstery shops to get estimated quotes. Make sure you ask if you can bring your own fabric without an up charge.  Note: another place to look for an affordable upholsterer is at local fabric stores. They may not have their own shop but leave their cards at fabric stores to find customers.
8. If the upholstery price is right make sure you ask the upholsterer advice about fabric details and yardage. Especially if you want a pattern and no seams across your headboard. I didn’t want a pattern but velvet is tricky depending on which direction it lays when you run your hand across the fabric. These are details I would not have known without asking the upholsterer.
9. Be patient to wait for your bed to go on sale, and free shipping is a must to stay affordable! If the style of your bed is pretty basic maybe check your local Facebook Marketplace/ Buy Sell Trade Groups for a local find.
10. While you wait for a sale start looking for fabric. I wanted velvet so my fabric was a little more expensive, but there are tons of great upholstery fabrics for $8.99 a yard at Fabric.com. Don’t forget to use a coupon!
11. Order a few yards extra of your fabric so you know you will have enough. People do make mistakes… even the professionals.
12. When your bed arrives put it together to make sure you like the bed.  This will seem annoying but worth it. If there is anything wrong with the bed you don’t want to find that out AFTER upholstering the bed.
13. If all is well, take your bed and fabric to the upholstery shop!
14. Put together your bed and squeal with excitement… I literally did!

VERY IMPORTANT: The most expensive cost of upholstering a piece is the cushion and filling of the piece.  Since the piece is new you will not have to replace anything so make sure you ask the upholsterer to save the cushioning and just replace the fabric.

No worries about about waste:  I have what was pulled off the bed and have a plan to re-use it in some throw pillows for my living room! Corrine used the piping and the black upholstery fabric (underneath the side rails and on the back) that came with the bed!

The wait was long and I would do it again in a heart beat… we love the bed

I love how camera angles can hide so much. This room is far from done but I thought I would show a little preview of week 3… the lighting. I still have to order three more light fixtures and I am having trouble deciding but you can kind of see the direction I am going!

I hope this post helps you think outside the box to create an affordable version of an inspiration piece. Can’t wait to show you more.  Thanks for reading!

Here are my previous Spring 2018 One Room Challenge Posts: Week 1

Make sure you check out the featured designers and the other guest participants!