Happy Monday! I’m finally here to reveal my newly reupholstered French sofa. This project was a huge undertaking, but I’m so glad I did it. Here is the finished sofa!
So, what do you think? I really love the contrast of the dark stained wood frame with the light woven gray fabric. I looked all over for fabric when I was planning this project and finally found exactly what I wanted at Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately, they don’t sell it online. (Tip: Hobby Lobby’s fabric is always 30% off. But, did you know that you can use a 40% off coupon instead of the 30% off! I didn’t! But, the nice fabric counter lady told me and I’m so glad she did!) The fabric is a woven gray that works perfectly with my existing charcoal gray chairs. As you know, gray can be tricky because grays have varying undertones. So, I brought home a lot of sample fabric swatches before making my final choice and I would highly recommend you do that when considering fabric for upholstery or even when making your own curtains or pillow covers. You may think it will look great, but it’s best to be sure and bring home a swatch to hold up to any existing fabric in your space.
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Please see my full disclosure at the bottom of this page.
Some reupholstery projects don’t require any sewing, but this one did. I don’t think I would have attempted a project like this if I didn’t have sewing experience. I’ve been sewing since I was 8 years old, and that was helpful because I had to make the cushion cover from scratch with no pattern. Normally, I would have taken the existing cushion cover apart to cut the new fabric around those existing pieces – like a pattern. But, this cushion isn’t filled with foam. It’s filled with down! Can you imagine trying to remove all of those tiny feathers and then somehow getting them back into a new cover! Nope, that wasn’t going to happen! So, I made a cover to go over the existing velvet cover. Kind of like a slipcover. There was a lot of measuring and praying (just ask my hubs who was trying to watch TV while I had fabric all over the family room floor and was crawling around on all fours!) when I was working on this cover, and I’m so relieved that it all came together as planned.
Reupholstery is something I’ve wanted to try for quite a few years. I’ve been so inspired by other bloggers who have reupholstered pieces, especially Miss Mustard Seed. Before I even began my own blog, I read her posts featuring pieces that she had transformed and knew it was something that I wanted to try. I even purchased the upholstery staple gun that she recommended. That was almost five years ago! Recently, Marian created step-by-step video tutorials on reupholstering a French chair. These videos were so helpful and I highly recommended them. I’m sharing the links to the videos for your convenience.
Reupholstering a French chair – Stripping old upholstery
Reupholstering a French chair – Selecting and cutting the fabric
Reupholstering a French chair – Upholstering the chair
Reupholstering a French chair – Attaching the trim
Here’s one more look at the reupholstered French sofa without the pillows! Overall, I’m super happy with the outcome. I’m sure a professional upholsterer would find plenty of things that could have been done better, but I’m not likely to have a professional upholsterer come for a visit, so who cares! I did it and feel a huge sense of accomplishment! It’s kind of a “bucket list” type project for a DIY’er! Was it easy – NOPE! It took me a long time and a lot of patience. But, it is doable and I don’t want to scare you away from an upholstery project! If I can do it, you can too!
And, what’s better than a good before and after! Here you go!
The week of Spring home tours with my blogging friends begins today, and I’ll be back on Friday to share my tour! You can follow along all week by beginning HERE today.
If you missed my post on how I gave the wood frame an update, click HERE.
To see last year’s Spring home tour, click HERE.
Sharing today at:
Carmie
Stunning!
Doreen Cagno
Thanks so much, Carmie!!
Linda Southworth
I adore the final result! I have several chairs I want to reupholster and just waiting for that courageous moment to happen. Love the dark wood and gray. It really makes the color selection on your pillows just shine. Have your husband pat you on the back for me!
Doreen Cagno
Thanks so much, Linda! This was my courageous moment!!!!
NAncy
Oh my—such a change! You did a wonderful job and I much prefer the after to the before:). Congratulations on tackling a tough assignment and creating a transformation success!
Doreen Cagno
Thanks so much, Nancy!
Kathie form IL
You did an amazing job. Love it. The seating cushion in down is wonderful. We had a sofa done in CA and the seating cushion was foam. Not nearly as nice and cost a fortune☹️
Doreen Cagno
The down cushion does make it special! It’s really heavy, which you won’t think since it’s just a bunch of feathers!!!
Suzanne
Worth the hard work…..STUNNING and full of character….love the stain and fabric choices. I have the same color sofa…the Birch Lane Montgomery sofa in light grey with walnut stained bun feet. I get lots of compliments. Great job, Doreen.
Doreen Cagno
Thanks, Suzanne! I do love the combination and glad I decided to go that direction. At one point I considered painting the frame!
Rebecca
That turned out exquisitely! Wonderful work!
Mallory
What an incredibly transformation!!! You did a beautiful job! Way to go!!!
Gwen
Oh wow!!! I cannot believe this is the same couch. You had a vision and you succeeded. It looks wonderful!, it goes easier I’ve heard with an upholstery sewing machine yet your piping is perfect. Using your own trusty machine and your own excellent sewing skills. This stunning makeover is a feat of accomplishment!! Congratulations!! I look forward to your room reveal.
Doreen Cagno
Thanks, Gwen! I actually purchased a double welt piping foot for my sewing machine, but it didn’t end up fitting. I used a zipper foot for the first piping row and then a zig zag foot for the second row. It worked and that’s all that matters!
Vanessa
Beautiful! I was so looking forward to seeing the transformation. I love the dark wood contrast as well. Great Job!
Doreen Cagno
Thanks so much, Vanessa!!!
Jo Kathryn Maddox
Beautiful! Congratulations on doing a fantastic job on this sofa.
Katie
Looks very nice!
Charee
Beautiful! A nice updated look for a classic piece.
Cindy Jennings
Oh my word!!! The result is amazing!!! I am just in awe of your ability to see something and transform it into something beautiful and stunning (and functional, too!)!
Doreen Cagno
You’ve got to stop over and see it in person sometime!
Cathleen brickhouse
It’s gorgeius!! You did a great job!
Carla
It’s beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
ROSE LEFEBVRE
It is lovely and the color can go with any decor! Well done. I had a 3 piece sectional in the same style and gave it away when was told it would cost $1300 to have it reupholstered.
Terri
Absolutely Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Patty
Absolutely beautiful!
Cheryl
Absolutely beautiful!!
Marsha Fisher
It looks amazing! Kudos 👏!!!
Marty Oravetz
Oh my word, it is amazing. Great job.
Julie @ Restyle Relove
Wow Doreen, your sofa looks amazing! The fabric is gorgeous. You did a wonderful job. 🙂 Julie
Doreen Cagno
Thanks so much, Julie!!!
Linda Imgrund
Amazing, Doreen! You did such a great job and it looks beautiful!
Doreen Cagno
Thanks so much, Linda! Are you ready for more snow?!!! I’m so ready for spring so we can get outdoors!
JEnny
Wow! Wow! and Wow! It looks beautiful. Great job. It looks perfect in your space and with those pillows! Thanks for sharing.
Debra Oliver
You did a fabulous job! Love the fabric and color. I don’t have that much experience so I don’t think I’d attempt this big of a project. I can only imagine how hard it would be to wrangle that one big cushion. just beautiful!
Doreen Cagno
Thanks so much, Debra! And, yes, it was a lot of wrangling that big cushion!!!
Betty Coleman
The sofa is beautiful! You did an excellent job , what a great reward for your hard work . Really beautifully .
Shelly
Pure beauty!!! I loved it before and after 😁! I would love something like that! You did a great job!
Blessings
Laura Harrie
Doreen,
Your words give me hope that I can try my hand at upholstery too. Thank you for the inspiration to do it.
Doreen Cagno
You can do it, Laura!
Laney
Congratulations! It looks spectacular!!! Quick question…did you re-stain the wood? It looks darker in the after picture? Keep up the great work! Thanks for your inspiration! 😊
Doreen Cagno
Hi, Laney. You can see how I darkened the wood in this post: https://hymnsandverses.com/2018/03/using-gel-stain-enhance-stained-wood.html
Bkita
That is truly impressive. Looks really professional.
Carolee
Wow! I love it You did a wonderful job and I really like the dark wood.
Julie
Way to go! what an accomplishment. This is so pretty and elegant. I love it.
Colleen
Thank You !! It is so beautiful and the transformation is unreal!! My inquiry to where you got this was replied to Fast and was surely appreciated.