How to Recover a Sofa with a Dropcloth

 

 I've been revamping my living room for the past few weeks.  I've had enough of the beige.  I've changed out the curtains, here, then made a small work space for myself,  over there, we are picking out new floors (yay!)...but that darn sofa. 

 When we moved here, we bought a really formal sofa.  I call it "the Italian Stallion."  I liked it for the past 6 years, never noticed it really- didn't have time to, and then the dog destroyed the fringe trim on the euro pillows and well I just had to fix that! That's my excuse anyway  ;)

I started to search for a cute, small, sofa for the space.  I found a lovely sofa at Macy's online, but long story short, I missed the sale.  The spouse said to just buy it, but it was $300 more since I missed the sale.

So I sulked for a few moments and then it hit me, 
wait... I'm Planted and Blooming Girl...I'm not buying a new sofa, I'm just going to cover this one! 

 Okay, really the conversation in my head said, "just try this and hopefully it stinks and then you can buy that little sofa when it goes on sale again!"

I have been in eyeing up linen sofas and chairs, they are so fresh, but comfy looking.  I immediately fell for this...

Inspiration sofa 

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...only because it has some wood trim and so did my sofa.  Plus I wanted dark wood to tie in with my dining room set.

I did a little research, and yes, canvas drop cloths were used, like everyone else in blog world, but I didn't want a slipcover, I decided to recover it.  After a little YouTube tutorial, I figured I had enough skills, I bleached the drop cloths and borrowed a Brad Gun, I was ready.  I learned via my YouTube Video that my sofa was indeed made very well, so some guilt was setting in about experimenting on it.

Our sofa...the Italian Stallion Before...

I have no clue what that orange thing is next to the sofa-5 kids, a dog... anyway,

Once I got started, I found that my glue gun did better on the little areas, yes, I said GLUE GUN.  I would literally hot glue everything if I could. I do not recommend hot gluing your reupholster job, but I have to tell you that stuff sticks and for good.  I was going to just hot glue the fabric on and go back and staple but no, just glue.

 I decided to try it, what the heck?  If it falls apart well, then I'll just get that little sofa...when it goes on sale again.

First, I removed all of the wood-like trim, flat head screwdriver- style, then I took them out back and sprayed them a glossy espresso.

what the heck is that, right?  (Old flower pot for support)

hot glued it all on, cut off the access
 at this point I was thinking the stairs were easier to do!

Now I'm seein' some light at the end of this tunnel

Next, I took a break for a week and scared my whole family because they thought I was leaving it 
I sewed up some covers for the pillows, ran out of drop cloth and had to go buy, bleach, and dry more....and sew the cushion covers.  Now I know I got a little slacky on these, but I couldn't hot glue these so it was time consuming and I'm impatient remember?  Finally, I used the Brad Gun and put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  I like it.  I won't bore you with the ottoman pictures, same deal, I took it apart, sprayed it and of course, hot glued on the new fabric and reattached the cushion.

And don't ya know, the darn Macy's sofa is back on sale again, but I think we'll keep Mademoiselle Dropcloth for a little while! 

We have exciting things happening this coming month, I can't talk now, but coming soon...and no... It's not a another baby.

Simple Pillow Covers

 

Easy pillow cover tutorials are all over the web, Pinterest alone has a ton.  I usually make an envelope style cover, that way I can remove it and change my look, no hassle.  However, I realized that I never, not once, put the cover back on again!  So this time I've just covered them standard.

 

 

I won't bore you with a bunch of directions, if you don't sew, ever, you probably won't be reading this! 

 

 

Our ginormous sectional came with super ugly throw pillows, which I have just found time to cover.  I picked up some Waverly Sun n Shade Fabric, it's indoor/outdoor.  I normally would not have used it inside, but once I felt it, I was surprised to find that it isn't even scratchy and I think it'll hold up better with 5 kids and the pooch. 

So in pictures, here's what I did...

 

 

before (shudder)

 

lay the insert out and cut around it

 

 wrong sides together & zigzag stitch 3 1/4 together

 

 

 turn right side out and stuff your form back in

 

fold in the opening and pin,then straight stitch it closed.

 

That's It!

 

Use the Unused Room

 

We have a complete waste of space in this house.  I'm sure half of us do.  It's come to light because, as of Tuesday, I am (again) a student and I'm getting a little nervous about where the heck I'm going to "be a student" for my first online class, ever.   

 

Our house was built with, ahem, a "study" that is now (and always has been) a kid-friendly spot complete with a sofa, TV, and PS3.  I have no time interest in transforming it into my "office"  and really like that I can shut the door to that room and hide the fact that I have 5 kids sometimes.  Just bein' honest. 

 

As far as the living room is concerned, I've already changed up the windows, making it less formal and stuffy.  I'm working on the sofa (that's a whole other story.)  So my wheels began turning as I sat in there, and I thought, "Why not use this unused spot!?" 

  Nobody uses the sofa but Vince (the dog.)  

 

See?

 



Now what I need is a small area, designated for a laptop and seat,  yet something that will fit in with the room.  I'm going for functional living room, not home office here.

  Off to the Internet for a little inspiration and here's all the stuff in my brain....

 

 

 

 

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Alright, well I don't have a closet in there but this is cute. 

 

 

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A girl can dream can't she?

 

 

This blog is all about planted and blooming and blah, blah, blah, so okay I 'll just have to make do with what I have.  Here it goes.  

 

My sofa table is going to be my "desk"

 

 

  I bought this stool for reasons none other than it was on clearance at Target a month ago for 40 bucks, so that will be my seat.  I'd like to recover it, probably not before Tuesday though! 

 

 

   

 

Wish me luck!

 

Lighten Up

 

Our living room was feeling blue, well beige, really.  It's the most unused room in the house and I really want to change that, but it's going to take some time. 

For now, I thought the windows would be a good place to start.  The drapes were stuffy and formal, not like our family at all.  The furniture, drapes, shades, and the valances were all the same tones of brown and tan.  (No, I'm not related to Mr. Knit Knots.)
  Enter...Bloom Where You're Planted.  This is how it started, I didn't get a full shot because I was so excited to take them down that I forgot to!
 

 

See how persnickety, even with the fringed valances down.

 

  I wanted fresh and airy, clean, crisp, breezy.  Yeah... white. 

The easiest (cheapest) solution was to buy 12 yards of 
white muslin, used for lining curtains, at $2.00 a yard. 

I cut it into 4 panels and just folded over the top and hung them with the existing clip rings. 
I let them pool on the floor (against everything Nate Berkus stands for, I know and I'm sorry, really, because I truly love him)  but I'm impatient, remember, and didn't feel like hemming them. 
 

Things were already looking better.  But ya know that feeling when you put on shorts for the first time in the summer?  That's what happened.  It felt nude, so I ordered some bamboo romans, best deal ever, from Kohl's,  to balance out my some dark furniture and the floors.  They arrived in 2 days (yay!)  and are darker, espresso really.  So happy.

Kohls$34.99 plus an additional 30% off!

 



 

I'm blooming now reader!  Just a little change, but wow, now my living room knows it's Springtime!!  I have big plans for the sofa in here, plans that will either : 

 a. work
or
 b. end up on the curb!!! 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained right?

 

Mission Control: We Need a Command Center

Five kids, two busy parents, a business, jobs, classes, and the dog (I blame everything on him) I am in dire need of getting all things organized.  Now, I do have this little grouping of items I've collected for a "command center" thanks to a trip to Home Goods last week.

 

Really bad picture, but it's a huge pin board (on clearance whoot whoot!!) and a 3 pocket file -chicken wire style!!   So. Excited.

 

I just so happen to have a farm house table that was our first kitchen table from when we got married, and we obviously outgrew it, but it's in the basement.  I had dreams of doing something like this with the Home Goodies and table...

 

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 Not pink, maybe blue?

 

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Like this.. mmmm.

 

 

 

 

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I think I can carve out a spot in the house for this stuff, as soon as I redo that table.