No Worries, We've Got it Covered!

One of my helpers pretending
she's enjoying the task!

A friend stopped me yesterday and said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, is re-upholstering difficult?”

It took me only few seconds to give my profound answer.  “It depends”, I said.

Wow, that was an intelligent response!  L  But, in all actuality, it was truthful.  These questions must be answered:  

This is showing the worst cushion for photo purposes.
Usually it was able to be flipped upside down and not look bad.

1) Do you sew?  

2) Is the furniture in good enough shape to make it worthwhile?Do you need to fix springs, etc? 

3) Are you willing to spend money on good quality new fabric? 

4) Do you have time? 

5) Do you have somewhere else to sit while it is being done? 

6) Is there a back-up plan? J

There are so many fabrics available.
Choose one that you'll love for many years to come.
This was durable but soft.

She had seen a status post of mine earlier this summer on Facebook. It showed progress on a couch I was re-upholstering. I think she may have been dreaming of giving her couch ‘new life’ ever since!  She has young children and now that they’ve out grown some spills, it may be the right time to have a couch make-over.

We were able to save and re-use zippers, piping, and foam.

Many of us have furniture that we had bought ages ago. The quality is good, even if the upholstery fabric has seen better days. So maybe re-upholstering would work for you, too.  We aren’t tough on our furniture, but wear and tear, and a few moves are bound to have taken their toll.

Once everything was off of the couch,
we were able to inspect and evaluate the "bones".

 I had looked for new furniture for quite some time.  Everything I had been seeing was so oversized, or too soft, or too hard….I felt like Goldilocks trying to find the one that was “just right”. It wasn’t happening, so I decided to re-do the one that I already had and loved.

During the project, one of my helpers took time out to
bake a pie for her grandfather in order to keep him placated. 

I had the couch and matching chair, but I decided to tackle the couch first, in case I really bombed out.  I didn’t need both furniture pieces ruined.  

As it was starting to get pieced back together,
I wanted to be sure I'd like "the look".  

My parents were coming for a visit and so were cousins a few days later.  My mother had offered to help me tackle my project in hopes that we’d get it completed before our “company” came.  So, I had 72 hours to transform the couch, feed my house guests, mow the lawn, and sleep!

We did finish, and the bottom cushions even
match the striping on the back.
Although, I didn't replace buttons or skirt.

We did finish the job, and I love it. I even did matching cornice boards for the window treatments, and matching dining room chairs.

Even had fabric to add to dining room chairs.

In doing this project together, we will have memories and stories to share for another 50 years! We finished in plenty of time and welcomed the cousins through the doors just hours later.

Enjoying some songs from yesteryear!