The new sofa and chairs are working out very well. We bought that little ottoman for one of the chairs and are still on the lookout to see what we’ll use for the other. The trunk-with-cushion in front of the couch is a mainstay but the cloth that’s currently on the cushion is just not going to work out. The plan was that we’d buy some matching chair fabric and recover it.
The information about the fabric came with the chairs. I had already done an online search for the fabric, and could only find dapple grey 30103 and linen 33117 at the place that manufactured the chairs, Best Home Furnishings. When I contacted them, they told me I couldn’t order as a private citizen – I’d need to have an ‘authorized retailer’ make the purchase. *sigh*
As it turns out, there’s a local furniture place in town that is an authorized retailer! However, the owner of the establishment is…. how shall I say this…. prickly. When I went in to ask if she could order the fabric, I phrased it as, “Can you do me a favor” instead of my intentions: “I will pay money for you to order this fabric for me.” She told me that since I ordered the chairs in Omaha, I could drive to Omaha to buy the fabric. Um….. ok.
So on Saturday, we did. We went to Nebraska Furniture Mart where the chairs were purchased. I had all the information in hand and asked to order two yards of the grey and a yard of the .. taupe? The sales lady was very nice and when she found the ordering information, she told me the price: $93 a yard.
I yelped audibly. Yelped. That was waaaay more that I was expecting. I was thinking $60-$70 a yard, perhaps, since it was pricey stuff.
I backpedaled the order. ” Um…… I’ll take one yard of the grey.”
A HUNDRED DOLLARS for a yard of fabric?? A HUNDRED DOLLARS?? Lloyd didn’t seem bothered by it and wondered why I didn’t get more, but I told him at fabric stores, that kind of cloth is maybe $30 – $50 a yard. This explains why our chairs were so expensive!
Whatever.
On Sunday, though. We processed the idea that the fabric had to come from somewhere, and there had to be a fair amount of markup on the product. As it turns out, there is indeed. After some sleuthing, I found that searching for Bianca dapple grey and prose linen, they appeared….. for $16 and $24 a yard, respectively.
Expensive order cancelled, two yards of each ordered. With shipping, I still came out ahead. Yay!
Kristi says
What a racket. I’m excited to see the refurbished trunk. Go, Lauren!
Brad says
Even if you got the fabric from the expensive place, that would be pretty cheap for a new giant ottoman. I’ll be curious to see the final result 🙂