I have a large 14 year old sofa purchased from Room and Board (the "Kendall" - not sure of the original manufacturer) that is seemingly in great condition except for the seat bottom covers which are in tatters from many machine washings over the course of its life and for the last four years, the paws and nails of a 130 pound stay at home dog. The sofa is discontinued and I doubt I could match the color in having new covers made for the bottom, and the sofa is somewhat sun faded anyway, so the options appear to be replace the whole thing, or have reupholstered.

I am still in the process of getting quotes, but it appears that reupholstering would cost around $1200 to $1400 in our area, which is not much less than the cost of a new sofa of equivalent size and quality - well at least size, because not sure if a sofa today from Room and Board or PB or Restoration would even be the same quality as the old one. Our old Sofa has been moved eight times over the years, been used a lot, and apart from the seat cushion covers, appears to be in rock solid condition. I've read some horror stories about how all the big manufacturers that sell to R&B, PB and Restoration have cut corners in years, and see potential merit in sticking with our current frame.

On the other hand, reupholstering has its own risks, and I worry that my sofa may not be in as good a condition as I think it is. It looks solid to me, but I'm no expert, and for all I know, it's got latent wear and tear on the frame that's just a short while from showing itself.

Any thoughts or advice?