Would you be disappointed with this?

[Thistledew]

I am a self-confessed perfectionist so am genuinely interested as to whether I am being over critical here.

I got a chair reupholstered, as per the picture below, and am not 100% satisfied with the outcome. Anyone else agree or am I being unrealistic?

I didn't notice it at first (but then it's not my chair!) but once I did I would be irritated by it.

OP, i have to say, I love both the chair and the fabric, it's really cool!

I love the chair and fabric. Now that you’ve pointed it out I can see the issue and think you are right to ask for them to sort it out. Wonder how big a job it is to put right.

the Difficulty in pattern matching should have definitely been the first thing the upholsterer talked about. I think you would have to buy a lot of fabric to get a good match. The price is reasonable, cheaper than I would expect when commissioning a piece.

I do like the chair and fabric. Not the finished product so much.

Having done time in the business also - I think you have got very good value 3 days work plus inner materials - matching or balancing the pattern should have happened. Tough call to make. I would go for the cushion option. Pulling it back and re-setting the sides would be dependant on the way it was trimmed and constructed (the pieces may be too small or have tack holes) the cushion would hide the offence ....

No it's awful. I would not be happy.

I wouldn't accept it. Worked in soft furnishings years ago and it's not acceptable. If the workroom was half way through a job, they would let us know that there wasn't enough fabric and let the client make the choice of accepting as imperfect or not or ordering additional fabric. It is a difficult pattern though, as the print is large so birds are going to get chopped of somewhere.

I think your expectations are more than reasonable. Anyone working with fabric regularly should know that pattern matching is basic stuff.

I would be irritated with that OP....upholstery is expensive.

I wouldn't accept that. I'd ask the upholsterer to pay for new fabric and re-do the covering for free.

This situation is the equivalent of paying a decorator to hang wallpaper and then finding out that they didn't align the pattern correctly 'because you didn't specify'. It simply wouldn't happen.

You paid for a professional service, therefore you shouldn't have to specify 'proper pattern alignment', it's a reasonable expectation that it would be standard.

It would irritate me a lot and I’d have noticed it even if it hadn’t been pointed out.

I think upholstery is one of those things that requires a lot of skill but that people think they can do having attended an evening course.

You can’t polish a turd

Rude

Are there any seams on the seat? I can't see any so wondered if it was one piece. If so, there might have been just enough to do the back. But if not, I don't know why they didn't do the join down the yellow bit between the birds. It wouldn't have mattered if those were slightly narrower than the others.
I do think the price you have paid is low, esp considering you've had the springs done as well. Thats a lot of work for that amount of money.

Without reading any other posts (so I'm not biased): the pattern doesn't quite match up between the seat and the back, which would annoy me (but I'm also a perfectionist) and the piping doesn't look even, although that could just be the angle of the photo.

I wouldn’t be at all happy with that. It looks like a half-decent DIY job...so not even close to acceptable from a professional upholsterer.

You got a bargain basement price though, so honestly you’ve probably gotten what you paid for. The upholsterer should have spoken to you about your expectations however, and adjusted the price accordingly.

Now I'll go back and read what everyone else has said, lol.

It's not great pattern matching but once you have put a cushion or two on there it won't show. If they had exactly pattern matched it would have only been a temporary match, once it has been sat on and settled in you would lose the match anyway. It's not like wallpaper that never moves
. The rest of the work looks like a very high standard so I think if you only paid £260 you got good value..

I noticed the pattern right away. It looks very wrong. I feel uncomfortable looking at the way the birds seem to sort of stack on one another. Generally it's better to go for a smaller print to avoid these kinds of situations.

Good luck, I hope they have a constructive discussion with you, rather than trying to fob off below par workmanship.

I wouldn't be able to look at it without seeing the row of half birds touching the row of full birds down the back of the chair. I'd take it back. Surely they could have managed a workaround so that didn't happen. It is very obvious.

My first thought was it looked lovely and looked like a really good job, couldn’t see a problem at all.

Then someone mentioned the pattern and my OCD is very, VERY unhappy about it. You must get it resolved immediately and post a new picture.

I can’t see anything wrong with the seams people have mentioned but TBH unless it was really awful I probably wouldn’t have a clue.

Actually, looking at it the pattern is just not centred properly on either the back or the seat. That's the problem. Pity because it's a great chair and I really like the fabric.

Just found this and the non-matching back/seat was the first thing I noticed...sorry but that would drive me crazy as heck, moreso when you've paid good money to a so-called professional.

If it was a DIY and your first attempt, then you might kick yourself forever, but you would learn a lesson for next time....but I don't think you should accept this given your explanation about the piping conversation etc. Matching pattern repeats is a 'must' imho and something I would expect too.

Hope you come back with an update?

Its really obvious to me too, the non pattern match, and misalignment of pattern of the seat and the back. Shame.

Now I've read everyone else's (and actually enlarged the pic and put my glasses on) I can also see the seams don't match on the back itself (just thought that it was my bad eyes making it look fatter).

I wouldn't have thought to mention that either as I'd have thought it was obvious and similar to what a pp said about wallpaper hanging... you wouldn't expect to have to tell a decorator to match the pattern and the same applies to someone who works with fabric for a living.