Sofa Save: DIY Upholstery

We acquired this sofa a couple of years ago. It was in good condition and sat in the waiting area of a gymnastics center. And it was almost free!

I got it specifically to reupholster, as it had the simple mid-century lines I was looking for.

BEFORE

AFTER

In the meantime, we put it in the TV room. It was so saggy that it gave me back pain to sit on it for too long. Once I was finally ready to reupholster it, the first thing I did was take off the bottom and check that the structure and springs were sound.

I was surprised to find that everything was a-okay!! The cat began his intense supervision of the whole process. Good frame means that sagging comes from the cushions, which is actually a much easier fix.

Tools/supplies:

-butter knife (for staple removal)

-pliers (for staple removal)

-staple gun

-3/8" staples

-fabric scissors

-upholstery machine needle

-zipper foot

-new upholstery fabric (about $250 CAD)

-matching upholstery thread

-zipper (I reused/repurposed mine)

-new foam cushions (about $275 CAD from Eversoft)

 

I removed the dust ruffle for a much sleeker look.

Then I removed the back panel and put it aside to use as a template for the new back panel. I also reserved the two side metal tack strips for reuse later.

The back has some curves at each corner, so that portion was adhered with special tack strips. I removed them, and put them aside as well.

With the back panel off, I began using scissors to remove the piping from the arms.

I draped my new fabric over the front of the sofa. Starting at the front bottom, I began stapling the new fabric in place.

I continued by pulling the fabric through the space between the seat and the back, pulling it tight and stapling it at the back. The same applies for the seat back. The new fabric was stapled at the back and then pushed through the space and also stapled. 

I forgot to take a photos of the arms, but they are a simple two piece, that I pinned to form the arm. Once I had my shape perfect, I sewed it, then turned it right-side in and put it on the opposite arm. The bottoms are then pushed down into the crevices and stapled within.

The cat seemed to enjoy the new fabric, even without the cushion on it. The final step is to cover all of the exposed staples with the back panel. 

The original cardboard tackstrip was basically disintegrating, so instead, I used old business cards as my tack strip. See! They come in handy for something! Once the fabric with tack strip is in place, you pull it down over the back, and you've created a clean line at the top of your panel.

The metal tack strips that were reserved during the removal, are then put on each side and tapped in with a rubber mallet. Then the bottom is pulled tight and stapled underneath.

I put the reserved bottom (crumb catcher) back on the sofa bottom, screwed the legs back on, and flipped it right side up.

With the frame now fully upholstered, I turned my attention to the new cushions. We went with a new medium-firm 6" cushion. As you can see, it is much thicker than the original 4" cushions. When ordering new cushions, measure you existing cushion from seam to seam, then add an inch to it. This will give you the nice curve to your cushions. 

I created the new cushion covers by pinning the top, bottom and side pieces to one another, and I reused the zipper from each existing cushion in the new cushions.

With the old seat cushions no longer being used, I cut them down, and used them for the new back cushions, taking them from 3" to 4" back cushions. Same process as the seat cushions.

Next, I turned my attention to bolsters. I cut them out to fit some old orange ones I had, sewed them, turned them inside out and stuffed them.

A quick hidden stitch to finish those up, and I tossed them on the new sofa! 

The final step is making sure that some cat deterrent in the form of a sticky clear panel I got off of Amazon, and ensuring a new cat scratch tree is nearby. Check and check.

I shouldn't say "final" as I do still want to add tufting buttons to the back cushions, but that will have to wait for now. Stay tuned!

The cat approves.

If you want to see how this room looked before, check out this post from the gallery wall project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Retro TV Room: Credenza One

You guys...
It is freaking beautiful.

Sneak Peak: Matched Set

Hello.
My name is Pat and I am a chair-a-holic.

Yes, people. I've done it again. I brought home more chairs.
If you recall, I brought these diamonds in the rough home a couple of years ago.

Today, my boss, knowing my affliction for the prop, informed me of three such specimens behind our building. My boss is officially my favorite person today.

Mission Chair: Reversible Reveal

The sneak peak for this project was 3 weeks ago. I finally put the finishing touches on this Mission style chair. To check out its sad story, check out the blog post, Chairpalooza.

Before it was in pretty rough shape, but the bones of it were still in great condition.

After, it turned out pretty fantastic. Grey-dog agrees.
So, how did I get from the sad chair to this gem?

Mission Chair: Sneak Peak

About a year and a half ago we found 4 chairs (find post here) destined for the dump. The owner happened to be curbside, and told us that the chairs had been saved from a hotel that was being demolished.

I am working on one of those chairs now - a mission style - year unknown.

The cushions had to be thrown away since plants were growing out of them.

Canadian Cabin Nursery: Chair & Pillow

If I hadn't mentioned it before, our nursery theme is Canadian Cabin.
I figure it works if it is a boy or a girl!

Infographic: Bauhaus Style

I am a huge fan of Bauhaus style! Maybe its because of the holistic style of teaching, where different disciplines (painting, architecture, furniture design, etc) of art were taught together?


Philip Johnson's Glass House, borrowed from: Architectural Digest



So why am I discussing this today? I recently when to the ARIDO (the interior design professional association for my province) Annual General Meeting, and watched a fantastic documentary about Philip Johnson called, "Diary of an Eccentric Architect". Philip Johnson is also a Bauhaus alum (and Black Mountain College, which anyone in my profession knows was an important art & design school). I have loved his glass house since I first saw it.

Junking: Unnecessary Items

I may have created a monster.
My hubby calls me at work to tell me that he found a new thrift store. Great!
Then he says that he found a chair and he was going to send me a photo right now.
What? Umm, okay? Wait, why isn't he at work? Oh, here is the photo... hmmm, not too bad.
So I tell him, if he likes it to pick it up.

That was last week.
Today, we had different plans, but somehow ended up going junking.
First stop, our favorite little honey-hole.

Ellen's Ranch: Eclectically Gorgeous

Elle Decor recently did a photo spread of Ellen & Portia's ranch in Southern California.

You can find it at http://www.elledecor.com with the whole article.
The ranch is made up of cabins, barns and the stables.
 

Cabin 6: What struck me, was the absolute easy-going eclecticness of their ranch's decor.
They certainly have some signature pieces, like mid-century Danish shairs, but also a lot of rustic and antique furniture that makes the space so much more interesting.

Bench Reveal: Phoning It In

I picked up a great telephone bench (2 actually) and i have finally gotten around to re-furbishing it.
I found it at VV boutique - Value Village to those not in the know - along with all of these items.

Funnily enough, I did this project today, not because I was dying to do the telephone bench... (which I was) but more because I have been in an incredible picture framing mood. One of the items I framed recently was this huge rock band poster. It deserved to be framed simply because it comes with a great story.

Easy Artwork: Medical Illustration

I am kinda cheap and kinda resourceful, which is exactly what led me to this...

Junking vs. Antiquing

Although I come home with some pretty fantastic finds, getting them isn't always as easy as it seems.
The sometimes treacherous world of junking is not for the faint of heart, or for the impatient for that matter!

Most often, there is a real difference between antiquing and junking.

Chair Reveal: Mid-century modern

I originally spoke of this chair back in the post: Chair-palooza.

Haunted Attic Chair: Reveal

Before we moved into our home, we had to have vermiculite removed from the attic. While they were up there, we also had them re-insulate the attic to avoid issues later on (winter). The guys pulled a bunch of items from the attic including files from 1961, a vintage light-up lawn snowman, Tupperware, and finally a box full of wood pieces. The wood was in a plastic bin that had water in it, leaving the ends of some of them moldy.

Haunted Attic Chair Sneak Peak

Hi all,

I am absolutely dying to show you our haunted attic chair, but I am missing only one component in order to finish it.

Until I get that piece, I can't post it... BUT I can give you a sneak peak at where it started. The photo below is just after I cleaned the pieces and began to puzzle it together.

This is a bit of the background:

Before we moved into our home, we had to have vermiculite removed from the attic. While they were up there, we also had them re-insulate the attic to avoid issues later on (winter). The guys pulled a bunch of items from the attic including files from 1961, a vintage light-up lawn snowman, Tupperware, and finally a box full of wood pieces. The wood was in a plastic bin that had water in it, leaving the ends of some of them moldy.

 After cleaning the wood pieces with vinegar and water, I thought I might have a rocking chair on my hands.
At this point, my husband protested! He said, "If that is a rocking chair, and it gets assembled, and it starts rocking on its own one day... I'm outta here!"

Soooo....
Stay tuned to see if is haunted or not...........

Chair Goes Pattern Crazy

Our neighbour put this and several other pieces of furniture out on the curb back in July.
My husband, who has been looking for a good chair to sit in for reading, thought this would be a great addition to our house.

I had to agree; I mean it was clean, in good shape, and definitely had potential. Heck, it even had the colour green, which is the colour accent we will be using in the room that this will be going in.

As soon as we brought it home, we pulled the skirt off of it to give it an instant modernization and clean look.

Chair-palooza!!

I am officially a dumpster diver!
Okay, so no dumpster was actually involved, but I did find these in front of a neighbour's house.
They were going to throw them out after saving them from an old hotel that was closing.
Unfortunately, the guy saved them, only to have them be left outside for a year.

I am excited to see what I can do with them.

This one is from around the 1930s.
It would have had a seat cushion and a back cushion, originally.

The wood is in great shape despite weathering the storm.

There are still original springs, also in fantastic condition, that will not only keep the new cushion in place but also make the chair comfortable.

*UPDATE* Mission Chair

Mid-century modern side chair.

Should be a fairly simple restoration.

The wood is a bit more weathered than the previous piece, but perhaps with a little sanding, I will be able to re-stain it back to its former glory

*UPDATE* Mid Century Modern

Another 1930s piece.

The seat cushion is missing. I mean, the cushion was there, but it was so water-logged and heavy, that we didn't want to put it in the car.
Plus, it had a bit of weeds growing out of it...

The wood (again) is a bit worse for wear, but we will see what can be done about that. If it comes down to it, it can be painted and turned into a real bold, dynamic piece.

The pièce de résistance is this last one.

It is mid-century modern.
Probably in the best shape out of the four.
The wood can easily be restored, the upholstery project will be the most difficult than the others, but will probably be the most rewarding.

I am so excited about these finds. I cannot wait to see what I can do with them.

I also have a chair that we found in the attic. It has already been assembled and painted, but until I find foam for the cushion, it as yet to be blogged about.
Stay tuned!

*UPDATE* Attic Chair

Mart Stam Chair Help

I found two Mart Stam chairs randomly at a second hand furniture store. The owner didn't seem to know what he had, so I scooped them up for cheap.