Expert: Mark H. Miller - 7/27/2011

Question
Hi - a friend gifted me a wonderful Domar Club Chair and Ottoman.  They need to either be recovered or slipcovered - I am using them in an office so thinking slipcover is the way to go.  Suggestions?  I understand Mark ran the company for a period of time and thought he would have some ideas.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Ellen,

I founded Domar with my partner Donald - hence the name Domar, we ran Domar for 20 years and retired.  So I am glad to hear that our furniture is still appreciated.  

You may want to consider this information in your decision to slipcover or re-upholster.  What I write here applies to all upholstered furniture.  The decision to re-upholster or slipcover depends on the original investment.  A chair that costs $500 dollars new may cost $900 dollars to re-upholster - which is not cost effective,  a chair that cost $2500 new also costs $900 to re-upholster making it very cost effective to re-upholster - giving new life to a very valuable piece of furniture for a fraction of the original investment.  And a quality piece of furniture can be re-upholstered indefinitely,  that's how we end up with antiques.  My point is that the more valuable the upholstered furniture as an original investment, the more cost effective it is to re-upholster.  

As for your chair and ottoman, if the upholstery fabric is still in good condition then any slip-cover is a good investment,  a custom fitted slipcover or even a one-size-fits-all  that is commercially available.

Domar built most of our upholstered furniture using alderwood frames, double doweled, corner blocks,  coil springs, down and feather cushion, the best padding materials available.   The fact that your chair and ottoman is still in use after at least 11 years makes me feel that yours was the top of our line,  all Domar furniture was custom made.


I hope this information helps.  Thanks for making my day.

Mark Miller.