It's So Ugly It's Cool
Chinoiserie to Velvet, Reupholstered Vintage Couch
March 29, 2016
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on it and buy something, I may receive a commission off of it. Thank you for supporting Domicile 37.
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another, "It's So Ugly, It's Cool" challenge. I have been waiting almost 4 years for this. Seriously guys, I hoard this couch for 3+ years just so that I can make my couch dreams come true. Some of you already know that I have a "circus" red couch already, that I added tacks to (here)....but....I really wanted a couch that was kind of cranberry in color. I always knew that this particular couch had great bones and that it was worth more than the $10 I spent on it. So here is my Chinoiserie to Velvet, reupholstered vintage couch!
A few weeks ago, I asked my viewers on Facebook which color they would prefer most and to my surprise most said the more purplish one on top. I chose the bottom fabric, but when I reached out to the fabric supplier, Luxury Fabric LA, I requested to get a swatch of the top fabric. They ended up sending me both sample swatches....and you know which one I went for. I am so grateful they did that!!!! If you are working on reupholstering any large piece of furniture, I would definitely ask for sample swatches so you know exactly what you getting. Sidenote, It did not cost anything for a sample.
Top Color: Velvet Fabric Elegance Merlot // Bottom Color: Velvet Fabric Elegance Crimson
As a birthday gift to me, my wonderful mother offered to purchase all of my fabric for this makeover. I am so grateful for having a mother who supports my endeavors. Love her to the moon and back.
This couch is my baby. I fell in love with it when we first moved to the South East Coast and never stopped loving it since. Before I made the go to purchase it off of "Craig," I patiently stalked it ---I needed to make sure I really wanted it. Sure enough I did. It cost $10, came with an ugly blue slipcover, and purchased from a doctor who lives in a nice home (according to the mister). The couch was well taken care of but faded. I loved the fabric because I appreciated the style behind it...but lots of people who came to my house just saw a faded (weird) printed couch and thought it was so ugly, they did not even want to sit on it. The mister even thought this couch was ugly....come on people....look past the fade and you can see something so beautiful.
Isn't that print just something. It is gorgeous!
I wish I could go into detail on how I reupholstered this couch...but I had a little help from YouTube and I thought it would be easier to share the videos that aided me with this makeover. The more I watched these videos, the more confident and less overwhelmed I felt about the project.
Source: AloWorld
If you caught my post on Friday, you know that I received some help from at Fairfield World on this couch and participated in the Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest. They sent me cushion wrap to make my couch look extra full.
I DID IT! I never piped anything in my life before and it was 10x easier than I thought it would be, however I broke 4 needles in the process. I reused everything that I could possibly use and only spent money on a real upholster to sew my cushions. I thought the price was fair...next time I hope to have the guts, patience, and the tools to do it all on my own. So much was going on with kids being sick and motherhood, I had to.
I cut strips of a cereal box to help line my material so that it has a nice smooth finish.
This is real life right here! I am the messiest DIYer I know...I only vacuumed in front of the couch....LOL! I still have yet to put the dust cover on the bottom. but I am proud of what I accomplished.
Things I learned from reupholstering my couch:
1. Buy extra fabric
2. reuse what you can
3. Vacuum it out prior to deconstructing it
4. Taking the staples out is the hardest part
5. Be ready for your body to be sore....All body workout!
Tools I used:
-Staple gun (I used a regular ol' nail gun), you can use a pneumatic gun but you will need an air compressor
-I also read the book Spruce, by Amanda Brown--this was the source in helping me decide whether or not I wanted to take on such a big project.
-Fabric
You may also need:
Phew, that was a lot of info! I hope you love this challenge as much as I do and please stop by my blogging buddies sites to see what second hand item they made over.
13 comments
WOW, jess! it is a STUNNER. i loved it before and i would have sat on it but now i would lay on it and pet it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cassie! I definitely "pet" it every chance I get. haha!
DeleteOh wow! The amount of talent involved is amazing! You did a beautiful job Jess!
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine the amount of hard work that went into this! Kudos to you!! It looks so great!
ReplyDeleteAmazing job, Jess! That couch looks like a beast to reuphoslter, but you pulled it off so well. All I can say is you're one fierce diy'er!
ReplyDeleteWhat?! That before fabric is so cool. Those silly people. That velvet is so luxurious though!
ReplyDeleteLove the before fabric but the cranberry is gorgeous!! Great job with the piping and reupholstering. I've broken needles doing such things too. :)
ReplyDeleteGirl! This is amazing! I don't know if I would ever be bold enough to tackle a couch's reupholstery - but you totally rocked it! I LOVE that original fabric too - I hope you saved a little bit of it :D
ReplyDeleteWow! If that isn't beautiful! What an undertaking... Good for you! I've only tackled a small upholstered cane chair ;) #furnituregoals
ReplyDeleteHoly Sh*T! I have one dinky arm chair that I'm intimidated by. This is amaze! LOVE the red!
ReplyDeleteJess, you did THIS?! Oh. Em. Gee!!!! This is fantastic, love the color. What a great birthday present too, oh yayyyy!!! Sharing!
ReplyDeleteI've upholstered a few chairs and one couch, and the couch nearly made me go insane. You did a wonderful job--really impressed, and I couldn't love the color more!
ReplyDeleteLoving your couch!!!!! It looks like so much work, but definitely worth it!
ReplyDelete