The back story: this was the family couch when I was a young child. I believe that my family got it used so it probably dates to the late 60s or early 70s. There are no brand markings on it. My guess is that it's a Canadian-made take on the mid-century-Scando-style. I think several of my siblings (at least 2 for sure) have taken turns hosting it in their homes. So, with a little "reinforcement" (metal brackets added by my Dad), it has been sturdy enough to last through 35-40 years of abuse in big families with lots of kids jumping on it. Most recently it was in the basement of my sister's house where drunk teenagers played video games and crashed on it. As you'll be able to see in the pictures, at least 2 previous attempts at covering the lovely floral pattern have been attempted.
I'm happy with how it turned out. It's a bit of a hack job in that I don't really know what I'm doing and I didn't feel like dismantling it to do a totally "proper" job... so I had to fudge the fabric around some tricky corners.
I considered having it professionally reupholstered but given that the wood is in rough condition (mostly on the back thank goodness), that it's not a high-end/namebrand piece, how expensive reupholstering is, and that I have time on my hands, I opted to do it on the cheapside by myself.
Fabric, I learned, is VERY EXPENSIVE (some of the stuff I liked was $35/meter!!! And I needed about 7 meters!!) I managed to find this "suit" fabric on sale for $5/meter. I don't know how long it will last but it is good for a first attempt anyway.
(I put a lot of blankets around to protect things from the cat's claws and fur... plus, it feels cozy...)
So, without further adieu, the pictures (you can click on them to see them bigger):
the planning stage
reconditioned wood (top), bottom is the arm of the matching chair (which is the next project)
I'm not sure I like my fix on the left. It's paint over wood-filler but it looks too much like black tape. I can always change it later if I think of a better idea. I moved the visible metal brackets added by my Dad (right) to the inside of the couch, making them invisible during normal use.
I really love the lines of this couch. I'm happy I could bring it out of the basement and resurrect it
Cute as a button.
The matching chair. It will be the next project... although, the floral fabric is kind of growing on me and it's in better shape than the couch... so I'm in no hurry.
The payment for my work: it's true, spare change really does fall into the crack of the couch.
Thanks for looking at my couch rehabilitation project.
Beautiful! I don't think that was a cheap couch to begin with - though they did make furniture much sturdier in the past. I think you should send your photos to Design*Sponge as part of their before and after series. It's gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steph!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't think it was necessarily cheap (the wood is solid. teak i think.)
I just meant that I didn't think it was a super-expensive import by a big-name designer (like, where it would still cost $1500 at a vintage furniture store hahaha...)
But who knows? I'm not knowledgeable enough about that stuff to recognize it... but usually that designer stuff is marked at least with "made in denmark" or whatever. i just know i liked this and it has family history so i wanted to revive it.
You are one crafty chick. Ok, it's not really craft but... you know what I mean. Nice job cuz. Nicole and I - mostly Nicole - have redone a few chairs in our time. Some of those old units are just too classic to throw out. Great repair job on those pegs too! You're right about those lines - really nice. That era put out some cool stuff. I love the fact that your dad put on those metal brackets.
ReplyDeletePaul