It all started when I was at a yard sale this summer. There it was. The most perfectly beastly sectional sofa you’ve ever laid eyes on. Orange-ish, brown-ish, rusty ugliness. And dirty. And horrible. Clearly a keeper.
I had been feeling that our life could use a sectional sofa. And here it was – cheap and nasty. It is at these moments that I glibly say to myself, “I’ll just reupholster it – that’ll be easy.”
Normally when I go to yard sales, Ben sends me out the door with a parting shot of, “Just don’t bring home any upholstery projects.” So even though I mentally re-upholster things at yard sales and thrift shops all the time, I dutifully don’t bring them home. Strangely though, this time Ben was with me at the yard sale – and he too spied the clear potential of this charmer.
$75 later, we were at home with a hideous rust colored sectional in the living room. The theory was that if I put it straight into the living room then I’d be more motivated to get it done quickly – what with having to look at it all the time. And yet, it’s been three months, and now I don’t have a hideous rust colored sectional in my living room – I have a hideous rust colored sectional with most of the cushions re-covered in ticking.
A couple of weeks ago I’d had enough of the rusty fanciness and I finally dove in. I put myself on a schedule of one cushion per day – and since there are about a million cushions with zippers and miles of piping, I’m still not quite done. One more cushion to go. But this weekend I actually tackled the upholstery portion, and this is the situation now. My goal was to have this half done so that I could put the sofa back together and wait til next weekend for the other half. But since I frittered away most of my Saturday and didn’t start until about 4:00 in the afternoon, here I am on Sunday night, faced with the prospect of starting up my week with a sofa up on cinder blocks in my foyer. We’ll hope it’s not three more months before I get motivated again. Or I could just say that we’re going for the chic deconstructed look with our furniture.
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AYI! I have 3 half-finished antique Chinese pieces of furniture sitting on my porch, (I live in China) mocking me. This made me laugh out loud!
I’m glad you posted this. Now my unfinished projects (hanging pictures mainly) don’t look so daunting!
Is there any help in my saying that THIS piece of it is really looking great?
I think unfinished projects are just a symptom of motherhood!
Upholstery projects do this to me too! And I am forever thinking…oh, I know, let’s just reupholster it — yeah. Like that. I need some piping elves…and maybe a room devoted to halfway done pieces of furniture…
This sounds so much like how my projects progress – in small, short bursts during naptime, and for the rest of the time they litter my dining room table! Your progress so far is incredibly impressive – would you mind sharing your tips for re-upholstery? It is a skill I would so love to learn, I have at least one piece in my home that I would love to start on with confidence!
I love the pillow on it!
Gasp! I own that couch! Rusty, orange, dirty, and wait for it- fake velvet. Oh yes. She’s a beaut. I have never even heard of people re-upolstering themselves! Hope! No more throws that slip and slide all over! PLEASE, tell us how!
Hooray for progress!
Love the ticking! You can do it!!!
Bekah! You are so hip right now! Have you seen a Restoration Hardware catalog recently? If not, you won’t believe this:
http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/2012/03/restoration-hardware-new-deconstructed.html
I’m just cracking up over the fact that you have a throw pillow on a couch that’s half upholstered and propped up on dining room chairs
Laughed so much because my mother is also a secondhand deal junkie and a reupholstering fiend, so I grew up with projects like this in the living at all times! I remember once the whole family followed her out the door saying ‘Mama, PLEASE don’t bring home any more chairs!’
More like “Unstuff and restuff that happens sometimes.”
I was also going to mention that you are indeed very hip right now–at least according to Restoration Hardware!
Love the way the sofa is looking! Way to go! 
Just wondered if something had changed with your Amoretti website. I’ve checked it many times in the last couple of years, but just in the last week or so, a page pops up saying the blog’s open to invited readers only.
Bekah, you are so not alone!
I have a beautifully shaped, high wing back, wide, antique chair that I love. You may have noticed it at our house when we lived in Moscow. I have totted that thing for the last 11 years around the US, from Florida to Idaho, from Washington to Minnesota. All the while holding to my story that I would one day re-upholstering this historical chair, back to it’s former glory.
Every move we make, Chris suggests, very casually, the idea of getting rid of my treasure. A treasure I got for free, mind you. In the end, I get my way, and the big beast is lugged along for the trip. Shamefully, it now sits in our attic office/library. Where it is covered by a large blanket to hide it’s shame, as underneath, all her stuffing if falling out. If I had any decency, I would put the old girl out of her misery, but alas, I cannot. One day, I will restore her. I will!
So press on dear Bekah, you will be triumphant. And inspire the rest of us to get our rumps into gear. : )
This means that your family gets fed. When I tackle upholstery, it means that nobody will eat, or have clean clothes to wear once the clean stuff runs out, until the project is done. Thankfully, I have a mother who lives close by and loves to cook for us. Come to think of it, this may be why my husband suggested we hire a professional to fix the tear in the Craigslist sofa we bought recently… (though he says it’s because it’s leather and a leather professional has ways of working magic.)
would love to see what that wallpaper is in the background! And get the info! Thanks!