We have an old leather chesterfield couch. Ripped seam, buttons missing. Sure they could repair it. I would have to rent a truck and haul it. Sarah emailed that bob Smith does remote repair, for small jobs and he will be coming out soon, once I had new buttons. Others were long gone. Long story, went online for leather buttons , no luck. Went to Joann's Fabric in Corte Madeira because they have everything, yes couch leather buttons. But they were not the same color and pattern. I email Sarah at Michaels Custom Built Upholstery asking if they could reproduce the buttons. Yes. I drive to the shop and spoke with Michael Jimenez, the owner and he said , "Sure". Showed me the button forms and matching leather. Almost apologetic he said he couldn't do them today but Monday. No problem. My take is if a craft business will take the time with all the courtesy of someone who is having custom construction done, and I am having a tiny job done, you know Michael and Sarah and their craftspeople will deliver the customer service that so many corporate business' have put secondary. Very impressed! read more

Chiropractic table needed to be re-upholstered with vinyl. Good selection of options, good communication, turn around time was within my needs. No real complaints, however a few of the screw holes in the wood backing were covered by vinyl, which made reassembly a bit more tedious than it should have been. (I had disassembled and brought just the padded sections, not the entire table). Otherwise, happy and would use again with just some clearer notes on my end. read more

Michael's Custom Built Upholstery - before, held together with duct tape :) - Furniture Reupholstery Near Me - San Rafael, California

See all

I brought them 2 nice over stuffed chairs for reupholstering. They did a very poor quality job with crooked uneven piping, and replaced my nice seat cushions with narrow cheap foam. One of the cushions even had a grease mark on it. Avoid this shop. read more

Sarah is fantastic. She was super responsive and so thorough with all of my many questions, and she kept us posted along the way. Our ottomans look great and we will likely work with them again. 4 stars instead of 5 because you do have to wait several weeks to get your items back and two pretty small ottomans cost nearly $1k to reupholster (not including fabric) which feels like a lot but maybe that is what things cost these days around here. read more

The Michael's Custom Built team are pros, and did an AMAZING job reupholstering our leather fireplace chairs. I contacted Michael's seeking to restore the leather on our 20+ yr chairs. Sarah and Kathleen promptly informed me that they don't "restore", and instead they reupholster. So instead, I bought some DIY leather treatment stuff at the local hardware store... and further destroyed the leather on the chairs. Then I redialed Michael's. Sarah assisted me with selecting the custom leather. Once the leather arrived and their schedule opened up, the delivery team picked up our worn-but-loved chairs, and returned with gorgeous, like new furniture. Simply put, amazing. Thank you! read more

Sarah Cooper Faw and her crew are the best of the best! Michael's has completed several projects for me over the recent years from new upholstery for club chairs and matching ottoman, to new dining room chairs new upholstery and foam seating to pillows and redoing seating for side chairs. Sarah Cooper Faw, Project Manager, is professional, experienced, knows and understands furniture construction and repair, and is patient and helpful as the client works through the hundreds and hundreds of available material samples. I return again to Michael's just to have the opportunity to work with Sarah Faw and her crew. Thank you Sarah! read more

Michael is terrific. He's quick to respond, incredibly helpful, and clearly prioritizes customer service!

After my husky inadvertently dug a hole in my couch I contacted Michaels to see if it could be repaired. They actually created an almost brand new couch and seats for me, which look much better than the original. Then they created an ottoman that I wanted, far better and more useful, because it has storage, than the one I saw in a West elm catalog, and less expensive. I cannot recommend them more highly read more

Michael's Custom Built Upholstery - 'New" couch, seats and ottoman - Furniture Reupholstery Near Me - San Rafael, California

I needed to replace welting on some slipcovers and was told that it would take 2 weeks, which was fine with me. Well, I got an email 3 days later saying that it was ready! They did a perfect job and the price was quite reasonable. Furthermore, they did more on the slipcovers than I had asked for and did not even increase the quoted price. They obviously saw what would be an improvement and just did it! I will bring any upholstery job to them in the future. It is such a pleasure to work with a business that provides both quality and value for their work and really cares about the service they provide! read more

Michael's made slipcovers for 2 swivel chairs. I had to wait for my fabric, but once it came, the slipcovers were ready in a week. The work was great and I got lots of help there. They have resources to provide pick up and delivery. Those guys were great too. I knew they did upholstery, but was happy to learn about the slipcover option. read more

The experience started out well, dropping off the chair, explaining what I needed, choosing my fabric. The office manager is personable and friendly and it was also done in a reasonable time frame. When I picked up the chair upon first glance it looked fine. As soon as I brought it home my husband pointed out that the fabric was obviously uneven in the front and slightly lopsided on the sides, by about an inch, we measured. I called them about the problem and they asked me to bring it in to take a look. When I arrived, before he even saw the chair, Michael was short tempered toward me. Perhaps at something that happened before I got there? I have no idea. At first he tried to tell me he could see nothing wrong but then looking more carefully and within 5 minutes he agreed and took it to the back to have someone work on it. Twenty five to thirty minutes later he brings it out and although it does look somewhat improved it's still obviously uneven. I had the nerve to notice this and say so, gently. At this point he gets plain rude and increasingly agitated. He tells me that the degree of apparent unevenness is the nature of this type of chair. He implied that he was talking to an idiot, not at all the kind of customer service I'd read from other reviews. I am a customer, not a chair expert. I never insulted his work, I just observed a measurable lack of symmetry. Yes, for $300 (a lot for our budget and I pushed for it with my husband) I was hoping it would be crafted to a higher standard of quality. However, if he had used a professional tone with a smile on his face telling me that the chair had to look like that for a structural reason I would probably have accepted his opinion and gone home a mostly satisfied customer. Instead I got a crappy condescending attitude while I still paid full price. I was treated poorly and feel somewhat taken advantage of. I was surprised he was so volatile about my comments as they were not at all aggressive, mean or inappropriate. If you have a simple job and catch him on a good day, he's probably fine. I, however do not recommend Moody Michael's. read more

Sarah and her staff are exemplary. It's super busy because of Covid and they are packed to the brim with inventory within their warehouse and they do everything they can to help all of us. I am so grateful to have gone here instead of going through the Internet through those online locations. Sarah, thank you so much for restoring our furniture to create a wonderful outdoor experience for us. We will definitely be back! read more

I picked Michael's for its overall great reviews. All I needed was to have a dining room chair spring reattached. Not a big job at all. Much to my surprise, their estimate came to $75. I should have turned and walked out right then and there. Being in a hurry, I left the chair with them resigning myself to the cost and what they said would be a week's wait due to other jobs they had on hand. Over a week later (they didn't call yet), I was nearby so I stopped to see if by chance it was ready. After some considerable digging and removing upholstery materials, the chair was located under a pile. Nope, not even started. Michael said he'd give it to his worker who'd get right on it. Another week and a half later, still no call. Again, I was in the area, but this time the chair was ready. For how long, I can't guess. So I paid the $75 plus another $2.30 to use a debit card, since they prefer to take checks and cash. At least the chair is now usable. Maybe Michael's is great for large reupholstery jobs. I'm not going to find out. They're not so customer oriented for little jobs like mine. read more

I recently had a combination of six chairs and sofas reupholstered by Michael's Custom Built in San Rafael. The pieces provided a range of challenges because of the variety of their shapes and styles. I am extreme pleased with the results. I did not shop other vendors, so I don't know how competitive Michael's prices are, but I highly recommend Michael's to those for whom quality is more important than price. Ms. Sarah Faw was my Michael's contact. She is very professional and very helpful. She listened carefully to my requirements and saw they were incorporated into the pieces. And she used her knowledge to make design suggestions which improved the look of the pieces. Finally she distilled everything into a detailed invoice of the work to be done and its cost. read more

Around Thanksgiving my standard poodle puppy chewed my fairly new couch. Everyone that I contacted for repairs said nothing could be done. Or they would not get back to me once they saw the pictures. Even the insurance company said it was not repairable. I called Michael's and sent Sarah the pictures. Their upholsterer " Modesto" said he could repair it. He did an unbelievable beautiful job. I am so thankful. read more

See all

My mother had a very old chair, she absolutely loved, but it had seen better days long ago. We received absurdly expensive bids for full repair and no options in-between. We weren't an easy client, as we insisted on keeping the old leather and hopefully working with it to fix the chair. All others said No. Sarah / Michael's said let's try it and it is spectacularly beautiful again and looks back to new. Not sure how you did it, but we cannot thank you enough for trying, and for providing options. My mother loves it! She was so happy when she saw it. Cannot thank you enough! Michael's made pickup & delivery easy and their pricing was beyond reasonable. Will absolutely work with them again! read more

These are experienced and professional people. They did a perfect job reupholstering our high quality outdoor furniture. They finished the job on time and st a reasonable cost. I'd definitely use them again. read more

I am very happy working with Sarah and Michael. I am a professional designer, and care deeply about green and healthy design. However in the end, selecting an upholsterer should be about workmanship and a strong eye for detail. At Michael's, you have access to the safest and greenest upholstery materials, and you will get a top quality upholstery job. They spend time with you to help you select your options, and they stand behind their work. Re-upholstery is neither cheap nor fast, but quality is usually not either. I care about results, and I get good results at Michael's read more

Michaels furniture upholstry is absolutely wonderful! They've given me a gift that brought tears to my eyes and I'm overjoyed!!!! I just today picked up two antique chairs that I had reupholstered at Michaels (after they'd been reupholstered elsewhere and almost destroyed). They were very meaningful antiques that belonged to my great grandmother and after the chop job of the previous upholsterer I was absolutely devistated. I was initially afraid to look - afraid that my chairs would still look terrible and never be the same when it was time to pick them up from Michaels. (I've regrettted immensely having reupholstered them in the first place.) But there was no need to fear. Michaels did such an amazing job that I literally began to cry upon seeing my restored chairs in such beautiful condition. Other than the color, they are exactly as they had been before the chop job upholstery by the other shop. The lines are perfect, the curves exactly as they should be, the fabric nice and tight. They're perfect! Michaels knows what they're doing, the quality of workmanship is exquisite - you can't go wrong with them and they're worth every penny (and they were not the most expensive place in Marin, either!) read more

I just finished a relocation and design project for an estate for an elderly client and had an antique upholstered loveseat that needed re "plumping." The client's children wanted her to toss it out as the cushions were very flat and worn, but it was her absolute favorite piece of furniture. I researched upholstery shops and found this one much to my good fortune. I took the large inflated seat cushions and was told that they could refill the down feather interior. It was a tricky proposition as the fabric was antique as were the zippers and the contents of the inside. Not only did they do an incredible job of reviving these old gals, but they did it within my tight deadline. The cushions looked fantastic and were revived so that my client could sit more comfortably and of course the appearance from the makeover was incredible. My sweet client was beyond delighted with her "new" sofa and her children were amazed that we were able to refresh it and keep it in her home. I forgot the woman's name I dealt with, but she was beyond helpful, friendly, and creative. I highly recommend them for any' work you may need! Five stars!!!! read more

What a find! I went in to find out if a zipper on the cover of a long couch seat cushion could be replaced. Sarah first tried to find a zipper tab that would fit so she could repair the zipper on the spot, but no luck. Then after I mentioned I could sew, she offered to just sell me the zipper if I wanted to do the repair myself. I really appreciated that she offered me an option to save money by doing the repair myself, which I decided to do. The same cushion was over 10 years old and was sagging in the center. I had been putting off re-stuffing it. I had such a good customer service experience with the zipper that I emailed Sarah some photos of the couch so she could see the amount of sagging. She gave me an initial estimate so I could decide whether I wanted to trek the cushion itself in to the store for a final estimate. Her estimate was in range so my husband and I brought the cushion in. Again, she presented us with various price options and carefully and thoroughly described the advantages of each proposed approach. We decided to go with all new stuffing around the foam core of the cushion. Previously the cushion stuffing had more feathers and dacron than down. Michael's uses a higher quality stuffing with much more down and no dacron at all. The result was absolutely heavenly! My husband naps on the couch regularly and he adores the newly stuffed cushion. We're completely happy customers. Great quality, great service, good prices. I highly recommend this store. read more

I had my dining room chairs re-upholstered and they look great. Michael's was very accommodating since we were going on vacation. They stored our chairs at no extra cost until we could pick them up on our return. I have to downgrade by one star due to lack of communication. I had no email or voicemail message telling me the chairs were ready to pick up. I had to call Michael's and ask if they were ready. When I called, I also found out the price had gone up by $280. There was no call or email to notify me or ask permission to increase the price. I was on vacation and was checking my email every few days. I would have agreed to what they needed to do, so in a way it doesn't matter, but I consider it better customer service to keep the customer informed of changes like that. read more

After negotiating a convenient time with Nicole, Marcel came out to my home to repair my tufted leather couch, a feat I thought impossible. A $5,000.00 couch when new, it was jump tested by my toddlers some years earlier, pulling four buttons out of the tufts, rendering it worthless. After an hour's work, and for a small fee, Michael's expert craftsmen restored it to its original condition. I would enthusiastically recommend Michael's to anyone looking to restore their beloved furniture. read more

Michael's Custom Built Upholstery - The patient. - Furniture Reupholstery Near Me - San Rafael, California

I took my hand-me-down, very sentimentally valuable club chairs to Michael's after getting a ballpark estimate from Sarah. (I e-mailed her some shots of the chairs). The chairs, we found out after they were stripped down, were built in 1949 and in need of a complete re-do. I knew it would not be cheap, but to buy a quality item of the same caliber would have cost me more, and there was the sentimental factor, too.... I had my own fabric, ( I was not penalised in any way for not buying theirs) and in fact Sarah liked my choice. The project was completed in a timely fashion and I could not believe how absolutely stunning the chairs looked! The pattern was matched precisely and all trim was crisp and tight. Of course, there was the comfort factor, too. I inherited the chairs as a poor college student and had put up with the broken down padding for many years so it was indeed a treat to see them restored to their original glory! Thank you to Michael's for a top notch job and great service, too! read more

I purchased an antique chair 30 years ago with worn fabric thinking I can always have the fabric recovered. 30 years later I finally had that chair reupholstered. Sarah at Michael's Custom Built made the process extremely easy and pleasant with her level of professionalism! The quality of the workmanship was exceptional! I was extremely pleased and happy with the entire process and most importantly with the final results. read more

We had a great experience with Michael's Custom Built Upholstery. Had called/emailed a couple of places but Michael's was the shop that responded quickly and with what we considered a very fair quote. I really like their informative website--it answered my questions about the pros and cons of reupholstering vs buying new vs slipcovers. I popped over one day about a month ago and Sarah in the office besides being an excellent conversationalist, was also extremely efficient at locating some good choices for me for our sofa. By the next day our choice had been made; downpayment completed, and arrangements concluded for pickup (the Monday after Thanksgiving.) Sarah had said it would take about three weeks. Three weeks to the day--and practically to the hour--our reupholstered couch arrived. It looks great. Excellent job. Highly recommended. read more

Looking for a great reupholstery experience? Look no further and head to Michael's! After years of spending mass sums on substandard jobs we finally experienced quality from start to finish. We wanted our living room chair redone. A colleague had recommended Michael's. They have a great website where you can provide all the info for an estimate. Within 24 hours Sarah responded with a very fair quote. You can get your fabric through Michaels or bring in your own. They don't care either way. We brought in our own but Sarah was very helpful in confirming our choice even though purchased elsewhere. We brought in our chair and fabric and 2 short weeks later is was completed and beautiful. We had Michael's deliver the chair and the guys were right on time and as nice as they could be. We could not be more pleased! read more

Michael's Custom Built does beautiful work. No matter what I throw at them they can make it. Their workroom creates luxurious headboards, perfectly proportioned sofas and chairs, one of a kind case pieces, gorgeous throw pillows...the list goes on and on. . read more

I drove all the way from LA just to see these guys. My friends in the Bay area highly recommended him. I bought some antique furniture and need to re-upholster. Very delicate items and they were able to surprise with their excellent work. read more

These people are the best! They have recovered a number of different items for us and they insist on perfection. You never have to worry about the quality of the workmanship when you use these professionals. We would never even consider using anyone else. Thanks for the great work! read more

I took some cushions in to be covered and they did a great job. Their office staff were so nice and helpful. If I could give them 6 stars, I would. If you need upholstery work done, this is the place to go!! read more

Very poor customer service and a lack of timely communication. They sent me a quote, I said I wanted to proceed with the order, they then changed the quote to almost double. They do not respond quickly. Not impressed. read more

Awesome. Got my beautiful seat cushions back in a week. I couldn't be happier with the level of service, friendliness, and value. Highly recommend Sarah and her team. read more

I just called to get an idea of pricing for reupholstering a vintage sofa. I am a total newbie so I had just no idea of costs. The person answering the phone was very rude and short with me and I ended up hanging up on him. Wow! read more

I've come to Michael's for 3 different chair and sofa upholstery projects and been really happy with their work quality, customer service, and prices every time. I found they tend to under promise and over deliver on the timeline too. They even made some extra accommodations for me to pick up a chair after hours. Hard to find this kind of business. read more

Extremely happy with this company. They helped me with design ( choosing colors,fabrics etc) with utmost patience and knowledge. My projects came out better than perfect! Im so happy with my new ottoman and seat cushions,I am looking around for other projects to bring in. read more

I wish I had known about them a long time ago. They all have been wonderful to work with: they're knowledgeable, professional, quick, do an excellent job, and the cost is good. I'm looking forward to the next project with them, large or small. Keep up the great work! read more

As a designer I work often with Michale's custom built & let me just rave a moment... seriously, about how helpful & creative the team that works there is. They are accomidating, Quick, & you always get High end quality. I can sketch it- they will create it. I can have an idea- they will make suggestions or update me on other possibilities which only improve upon the finished design. Have a GREEN inspiration or goal-- they can meet it and you may never know it was "green" unless you wanted it known! I've worked with other upholsterer's, and for a smaller upholstery company, they produce like a large warehouse but still have superb quality & craftsmanship. Other designers ask & I almost hate to give away our secret, as in this industry good people are hard to find ...but sharing has only given us thanks! But that's what MCB is a, a well established secret that we are very privledged to have found & we can only hope will nevere close their doors. So if you use them, Congrats you have just recieved the high end quality that our most wealthy clients are privleged to receive... but the pricing is just right for everyone's wallet.--- T read more