Rene Guzman Studio

Rene was punctual and flexible when I needed to change dates. He came with many fabric samples. Two weeks went by. I called him and he told me that the fabric was no longer available. He came again and I picked a different fabric. The chair looks beautiful -- it had been damaged by cat urine -- and I'm happy with the results. The only problem was that two weeks went by with no word, only to find out he had not even started the job. Other than that, I was very pleased with Rene and the chair.

The experience was good from start to finish. I emailed Rene with pictures and he sent a bid within a day or so. We scheduled an appointment and he came with many fabrics to choose from. He took the pieces the same day, and the job was done in the time frame we agreed to. We are very happy with the results. The new fabrics go well together and the edge piping he suggest adds a high-end touch to the "new" sofa. We felt the price was fair when we considered the alternative of replacing these older pieces of furniture. He was a little late arriving for the delivery but he called to let us know. We live near the beach and had to schedule for a Saturday, so with beach traffic that is understandable. Only one negative - the cushions for the rattan chair were cleaned on the day of delivery so they were still wet. We will have to wait a couple of days to use them.

He is very nice. The price was very fair just more than I could afford at the time. He was very thorough, he asked the right questions. He told me what kind of pictures he needed and he was very quick to respond. He was very friendly. A lot of our conversation was through email but we did have one phone conversation and he was very friendly and professional. The estimate was reasonable in price.

He did not do a bad job restoring my table. However, his attitude was horrible. He over charged. He gave me an estimate on another piece of furniture that was outrageous. I was not pleased with his service. I would never use him again.

He came right away but he overcharged me. The work was good, but the price was very high.

We received an informal bid by email. About a month later, we decided to go ahead with the work. I called and left a message. I also emailed to ask what the next step was, that we wanted to go ahead with the project. I called again, and it went to voicemail. To this day, they have never gotten back to me. I will definitely not call them again.

They brought their equipment which appeared to be standard and in good condition. They (Rene and an assistant) came on time and worked efficiently. They were polite and considerate and left the work-space clean when they were through.

I contacted Rene as he had very good reviews. A big mistake. The first problem was that he was several hours late for the pickup and never called. Used the excuse of a broken truck. he then picked it up and we arranged for fabric to be sent to him.. We confirmed that the fabric was sent from the supplier and then contacted Rene 1 month later. He said he never received the fabric which of course was not true. In reality, the fabric had arrived but he made no attempt to associate the fabric with our sofa. We then waited. The chair was delivered but unfortunately, I did not have a chance to examine the work carefully as it was immediately being placed into storage. I should have. Now for the problems. The springs were loose inside the chair so that one heard banging with rocking. The undersurface which was supposed to be covered by black material, wasn't. Multiple screws were used to fasten the curved base to the chair but the screws were very prominent and scratched our stone floor. The base was screwed to the bottom so poorly that the base was no longer perfectly curved as it must be for a rocking chair. I have brought the chair elsewhere to be repaired. I would not give him another chance. Very poor workmanship.

It was all done through email and I sent him pictures. I haven't decided if I'm going to have him do it or get another bid. The experience has been fine. He was very straightforward and he gave me several options. It was a very nice interaction. He contacted me later the same day or the next day. He was very professional.

I needed to have a couch slipcovered. Rene came with his helper to my house and it was a one stop deal which was nice. They took the couch and chairs with them that same day. It took longer than he said which I understood but I had to call him to find it out. Also, my dog almost immediately peed on one of the pillows when it came back. The zipper was short and the cover of the pillow very hard to get off. I called him about it and he answered and said he would call me back to look for a solution which he didn't do. I will say the quality of his work is very good, he did what he said we would do and I am very happy with the cover and the repaired chairs. I would probably use him again. One small but nice note. His helper was a nice young man who was very sweet with my puppy.

Their service was ultimately fine. It was satisfactory. The work was satisfactory. There was a problem with some of the work and they came and solved the problems. They took ownership of the problems and resolved them. I possibly might use them again.

I did not hire him I did not know that I would not but he did some cleaning for me. While they were here they were pretty slip with their little operation. They come with their cleaning things and once they know you they want upholstery bids. So while cleaning my couch and chair they do the bid also. They are smart business men. The paint had not come out from my chair completely and even from my couch. But I don’t know if anyone else would have gotten it out since I had not got it cleaned before. All I can say is that his prices are more competitive than the other two or three people that I had come out and bid. With each and every item he was more competitive than anybody else. He only happened to have ugly fabric so that was part of the deterrence for me; I did not know how to get pretty fabric out of him. I really did not want to hurt him for that, and the choice of fabric is totally subjective, my taste. Overall it was a little annoying how fast they were trying to get my couch cleaned. But that was good business on their part. They came on time. I am thinking of using him.

Rene gave the second appraisal and I was so anxious to have the table refinished I gave Rene the project ASAP. I got We had a rough start because Rene didn't call me as he said he would. I was suppose to see a test finish on one stool. After chasing Rene and telling him how worried and annoyed I was, he promised to be more proactive and call me accordingly. The refinishing came out excellent and Rene was honest to say it was a difficult project. I knew it would be out of Rene's league. It is a very detailed antique carved table and stools. There is a lot of labor to stripe and refinish. I gave Rene another dresser to refinish because I was very happy with the end result.

I would not repeat scheduling another appointment with her, the lack of attention to detail on communications gives pause to her ability to be professional.

Rene was very easily contacted and made an appointment for the next day. He arrived on time with many samples of fabric. He very patiently looked at all the fabric with me until I made my selection. He also promised that the work would be done in a very short time which was important to me. He took the chairs with him that day. After about 10 days, I called Rene to see when the chairs would be done and he informed me they were done and he was going to call me for a delivery date. Two days later Rene delivered the finished chairs and they were beautifully covered. The chairs look beautiful and the fabric was perfect for my decor.

HOW RENE GUZMAN STUDIO BROUGHT MY ELEGANT MID-CENTURY MODERN 9-FOOT LONG SOFA BACK TO LIFE FOR JUST $1610! Shortly after I bought my very traditional 75-year-old home in the Hollywood Hills in 1993, I came across a pink silk NINE FOOT LONG sofa that would go perfectly in my 22' x 24' foot hard-to-decorate living room. I loved this 1962-era sofa so much, which was in mint condition from a loving home, that I had it re-upholstered in 2000 in a more durable, but not so gorgeous, blue damask fabric (wish I could attach the photo). When that fabric had finally bit the dust, I decided to reupholster rather than throw it away. The cost for a new fabric 9' sofa ranged from $4,900 up to $10,000, depending on whether I did silk or mohair! Rene Guzman to the rescue. Of the 4 Angie's list bids I did, his was the second from the lowest (with the differential being less than 10%), but he was by far the most responsive. He came to my house, measured, brought samples, made suggested and ACTUALLY LISTENED TO ME AND MY GOALS! I asked him to bring samples of specific designers' velvets, silks, and mohairs which he did on 48 hours notice. The cost of these designer fabrics ALONE for my sofa (which required more than 20 yards) ranged from $2,000 to well over $4,000. This being out of my budget (and absolutely ridiculous after what I later learned), he recommended that I do to two different fabric stores specializing in upholstery fabric and see what I might like. To my great surprise, I found velvets and silks I could afford that were fantastic. So, I got to cut my fabric budget down to $1,010 from $2,000+. Rene looked at my fabric choices and suggested that an inexpensive damask backing ($300) would give a more consistent look when the fabric was stretched in the upholstery process, a suggestion I graciously accepted. He came the next day, on time and professionally dressed with great assistants and took away the sofa AT NO CHARGE. He then advised me every 3 days of his progress, suggesting other needed fixes for a 50-year old couch (all of which cost $350, money well spent). Even with all the necessary fixes, the total came to only $1,610 for fixing/reupholstery, plus $1,010 for the fabric, a grand total (with tax) of just $2,620. He even made arm covers without an extra charge. He finished on time and delivered AT NO CHARGE as I am an Angie's List Member. Rene Guzman saved me at least $2,300 and probably closer to $3,000. Now that's a real find! Email me at: [email protected] if you would like to see the before-and-after photos....or just ask Rene!

They charged me six hundred and seven dollars to clean them. That was for the other room and living room drapery. That was really high. They did a good job. The only problem was that they did not hang the drapes up after they cleaned them. I think that was probably for another charge. I will not use them again.

The end product is great. It was a difficult job because the booth wasn't built correctly for upholstering and Renee said he could rebuild the whole thing, which would be more like $600 more, or just do the best with what I had. We decided to just upholster it as is. Before he started the job, he came over several times and showed me materials and even got me samples. It was nice to buy everything from him (always get samples, don't use the little swatches in the book. They are too small to tell). The guys that work for him are awesome and respectful. The reasons I gave him a "B" and would not use him again are: -Often didn't show up as scheduled without calling. Sometimes came 4 hours or late or not at all. -When we hit a few problems with the upholstering because of the construction of the bench, Renee got frustrated and wanted to charge me extra, or leave it looking finished improperly. I told him I felt this was unprofessional, since the price he quoted me in the beginning was supposed to take into account the challenges of the bench since we were not rebuilding. In the end, the guys had to pull off some of the piping and re-do it, so I paid a little extra for the work--even though they were supposed to wait for me to approve the work in the first place before they did it. I will not use Renee again because we did not work well together. However, the final product looks gorgeous, and other people may or may not have had this problem. I'm sure lots of people love him. I just can't recommend him.

Rene came to give an estimate on our sofa surgery. He had a can do attitude which assuaged our fears about cutting our precious sofa. In addition to performing the surgery, he promised to replace some felt pieces with leather. He loaded our sofa into his van and took it to his work place. He had promised a certain date but he encountered problems finding matching leather. No problem. He was forthcoming and kept us updated. When the sofa was delivered, I right away realized that the felt had not been replaced. Rene took the second piece back to the his workshop. It took a little longer than expected but Rene delivered. However, the studs were forgotten. Rene hadn't brought any studs with him so he made a fourth trip out just to hammer studs! Can't give a perfect because of the delays and problems but his being a stand up guys and taking care of his business makes him a star performer.

Rene and his staff did a great job. They picked up the chairs and delivered them; work was beautifully done. He's given me a quote on other reupholstery work that I'd like to have done (small sofa, chairs, etc.), and I will use his services again.

Rene could not start the job for several weeks due to other work commitments. Then, when the day came to start, he requested another week's time. Then he postponed again due to ill health. None of this posed a problem, but it appears that clients should expect to be a little flexible in scheduling. Rene did the work in two phases: realignment and surface repair. Depending on what he encountered during the realignment, he would be better able to bid the subsequent work. The realignment went splendidly. He was done in less than five hours. The resurfacing and toucing up also went very well, with the job taking just under 10 hours over two days, including breaks for lunch and trips to suppliers.. Rene is a master craftsman, and his rates reflect this -- for this job amounting to around $130/hour. He said that he also bids jobs on a time and materials basis. At any rate, he and his helper were immaculate, and his work looks outstanding, as if there had been no problems of misalignment and delamination in the first place.

Truly a gem here on Angie's List! I was always skeptical about buying antique furniture from swap meets, the pieces were beautiful but usually had some type of damage and were in desperate need of restoration. This was the case for a coffee table I purchased at a local swap meet, I wasn't sure how I was going to restore it so I could put in my living room. Luckily I found Rene on Angie's List, he does an amazing job and knows how to bring out a piece of antique furniture's true beauty. I will be using his services again, highly recommended.

Was a great experience overall and delivered good service. Would definitely use again.

we would use his services again

The experience was fine; it wasn't outstanding, everything was okay when they were done. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad. It was what I expected. Nothing more, nothing less.