Project Sofa
I was at my parents' house this weekend, and besides getting my ass handed to me in Guitar Hero by my sisters I spent the weekend helping my mom refurbish a used couch she picked up off of craigslist. Personally, used couches disturb me a little bit. The only reason I own a used couch is it was pretty much untouched. Someone bought it for their mom and then turned around and put her in a home. Other used couches just look so dirty. You don't know what the previous owners have spilt (or DONE) on there. There very well could have been some bare ass on that sofa cushion, AND YOU'LL NEVER KNOW. Unlike wood furniture, which I'm all about buying used, you can't really scrap away the grime. Anything questionable is just sitting in the fabric and padding, just waiting. EW.
Anyway, she bought this couch off of craigslist and got a pretty awesome deal on it. It was a baseline Pottery Barn couch that retails for $1200 and she got it for $250. The only problem is that it was cream (I don't know why anyone in their right mind would by a white couch unless they want to go insane anytime someone touches it) AND they had put it down in the basement and let their kids run free all over it. It was ripped and covered in markers, dirt, and random other stains. COVERED in them. We had our work cut out for us:
We're going to dye it espresso brown as soon as we find some decent fabric dye. Sorry, RIT, you kind of suck.
I WISH I had taken some photos on my own before we started working on it. The photos I pulled off of craigslist really don't do the damage justice. There weren't a lot of dark stains, but it was plastered in random spills, drool, and who knows what else.
STEP ONE: CLEANING
After removing the slip covers from the six pillows and sofa proper, we pretreated every single stain with oxy detergent and then let it soak. The cushion covers immediately went into the washing machine to soak in bleach, so we left the main slip cover piece out in the garage sink to wait it's turn.
While we bleached the slip covers (twice) we also though it best to clean the sofa itself since it is also upholstered. We used a cleaning system called Capture. You pretreat it with a spray and then sprinkle on this powder and work it in with a brush. It's super messy but it really worked. It pulled out quite a few stains that had managed to get through the slip cover.
STEP TWO: UNSTUFFING
It was decided (much to my delight) that we would rebuild the cushions themselves. Having been trampled by children, there wasn't a lot of softness left in the bottom pillows and the back pillows were pretty sad themselves. Let me just say, Poly Fill expands like a mofo. THE INNARDS:
STEP THREE: RESTUFFING
First, why the hell is foam so expensive? The giant piece of foam we bought to make the bottom pillows out of was the most pricey item we purchased besides the couch itself. Anyway, we cut the foam (which should have been made of gold for the amount it cost) into three pieces. (That's my mom as the Vanna of Wheel of Foam)
Instead of whatever lame, pointless batting they used before, we opted to slice up a feather bed and wrap that around the foam. It made fitting it back into the pillow cases a little difficult, but the resulting koosh is worth it.
STEP FOUR: SEWING
Luckily, all the tears in the slip covers were on the seams so it was easy enough to sew those back up. Mom made me do the areas around the zipper, so I did... and broke two needles in the process.
STEP FIVE: MAKE IT WORK
All the bleaching ended up shrinking the slip cover a little bit. So, it was a tight squeeze getting it all back on there. But, considering a new slip cover from Pottery Barn costs something in the $700 (!!!!) range, we think this will be just fine. And, as I mentioned before, this is not the finished product. We had been wanting to dye it yellow, because yellow couches are adorable, but since some stains are still slightly visible, we're going to go with an espresso brown.
BONUS! I made bibimbap last night (without meat because I'm lazy and will just ruin it anyway). From the top and clockwise here are the toppings: hot pepper paste (YUM, I want to put this on everything), zucchini and carrots, fernbrake (which reminded me of offseason asparagus. Good, but not great), spinach and garlic, and bean sprouts. Topped with a sunny-side up egg and some sesame oil.
Here it is all mixed up. I ended up adding some more toppings after this because the mix wasn't quite right. Mainly spinach, because pretty much everything needs more spinach as far as I'm concerned. I thought it was pretty tasty, but I missed the bulgogi.
Anyway, she bought this couch off of craigslist and got a pretty awesome deal on it. It was a baseline Pottery Barn couch that retails for $1200 and she got it for $250. The only problem is that it was cream (I don't know why anyone in their right mind would by a white couch unless they want to go insane anytime someone touches it) AND they had put it down in the basement and let their kids run free all over it. It was ripped and covered in markers, dirt, and random other stains. COVERED in them. We had our work cut out for us:
We're going to dye it espresso brown as soon as we find some decent fabric dye. Sorry, RIT, you kind of suck.
I WISH I had taken some photos on my own before we started working on it. The photos I pulled off of craigslist really don't do the damage justice. There weren't a lot of dark stains, but it was plastered in random spills, drool, and who knows what else.
STEP ONE: CLEANING
After removing the slip covers from the six pillows and sofa proper, we pretreated every single stain with oxy detergent and then let it soak. The cushion covers immediately went into the washing machine to soak in bleach, so we left the main slip cover piece out in the garage sink to wait it's turn.
While we bleached the slip covers (twice) we also though it best to clean the sofa itself since it is also upholstered. We used a cleaning system called Capture. You pretreat it with a spray and then sprinkle on this powder and work it in with a brush. It's super messy but it really worked. It pulled out quite a few stains that had managed to get through the slip cover.
STEP TWO: UNSTUFFING
It was decided (much to my delight) that we would rebuild the cushions themselves. Having been trampled by children, there wasn't a lot of softness left in the bottom pillows and the back pillows were pretty sad themselves. Let me just say, Poly Fill expands like a mofo. THE INNARDS:
STEP THREE: RESTUFFING
First, why the hell is foam so expensive? The giant piece of foam we bought to make the bottom pillows out of was the most pricey item we purchased besides the couch itself. Anyway, we cut the foam (which should have been made of gold for the amount it cost) into three pieces. (That's my mom as the Vanna of Wheel of Foam)
Instead of whatever lame, pointless batting they used before, we opted to slice up a feather bed and wrap that around the foam. It made fitting it back into the pillow cases a little difficult, but the resulting koosh is worth it.
STEP FOUR: SEWING
Luckily, all the tears in the slip covers were on the seams so it was easy enough to sew those back up. Mom made me do the areas around the zipper, so I did... and broke two needles in the process.
STEP FIVE: MAKE IT WORK
All the bleaching ended up shrinking the slip cover a little bit. So, it was a tight squeeze getting it all back on there. But, considering a new slip cover from Pottery Barn costs something in the $700 (!!!!) range, we think this will be just fine. And, as I mentioned before, this is not the finished product. We had been wanting to dye it yellow, because yellow couches are adorable, but since some stains are still slightly visible, we're going to go with an espresso brown.
BONUS! I made bibimbap last night (without meat because I'm lazy and will just ruin it anyway). From the top and clockwise here are the toppings: hot pepper paste (YUM, I want to put this on everything), zucchini and carrots, fernbrake (which reminded me of offseason asparagus. Good, but not great), spinach and garlic, and bean sprouts. Topped with a sunny-side up egg and some sesame oil.
Here it is all mixed up. I ended up adding some more toppings after this because the mix wasn't quite right. Mainly spinach, because pretty much everything needs more spinach as far as I'm concerned. I thought it was pretty tasty, but I missed the bulgogi.