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.
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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.
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Stunning!
Thanks so much, Carmie!!
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!
Thanks so much, Linda! This was my courageous moment!!!!
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!
Thanks so much, Nancy!
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☹️
The down cushion does make it special! It’s really heavy, which you won’t think since it’s just a bunch of feathers!!!
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.
Thanks, Suzanne! I do love the combination and glad I decided to go that direction. At one point I considered painting the frame!
That turned out exquisitely! Wonderful work!
What an incredibly transformation!!! You did a beautiful job! Way to go!!!
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.
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!
Beautiful! I was so looking forward to seeing the transformation. I love the dark wood contrast as well. Great Job!
Thanks so much, Vanessa!!!
Beautiful! Congratulations on doing a fantastic job on this sofa.
Looks very nice!
Beautiful! A nice updated look for a classic piece.
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!)!
You’ve got to stop over and see it in person sometime!
It’s gorgeius!! You did a great job!
It’s beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
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.
Absolutely Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Absolutely beautiful!
Absolutely beautiful!!
It looks amazing! Kudos 👏!!!
Oh my word, it is amazing. Great job.
Wow Doreen, your sofa looks amazing! The fabric is gorgeous. You did a wonderful job. 🙂 Julie
Thanks so much, Julie!!!
Amazing, Doreen! You did such a great job and it looks beautiful!
Thanks so much, Linda! Are you ready for more snow?!!! I’m so ready for spring so we can get outdoors!
Wow! Wow! and Wow! It looks beautiful. Great job. It looks perfect in your space and with those pillows! Thanks for sharing.
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!
Thanks so much, Debra! And, yes, it was a lot of wrangling that big cushion!!!
The sofa is beautiful! You did an excellent job , what a great reward for your hard work . Really beautifully .
Pure beauty!!! I loved it before and after 😁! I would love something like that! You did a great job!
Blessings
Doreen,
Your words give me hope that I can try my hand at upholstery too. Thank you for the inspiration to do it.
You can do it, Laura!
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! 😊
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
That is truly impressive. Looks really professional.
Wow! I love it You did a wonderful job and I really like the dark wood.
Way to go! what an accomplishment. This is so pretty and elegant. I love it.
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.