In my attempt to figure out what furniture should go where, I find myself still in possession of my ratty old couch that is nevertheless frustratingly comfortable, so I want to keep it around.
But it’s falling to pieces, at least superficially (the wood frame seems fine enough, but it’s all frayed and torn on the edges), and now I wonder if I should fix it up somehow. It seems like an expensive prospect, with some complicated procedures involved, which somebody who is not me would need to perform.
Alternatively maybe there’s an easy out-of-the-box way to do it. Any advice?
Last time I did it, recovering a couch (and getting new cushions) was as expensive as a new couch. However, there is something to be said for knowing what you are getting. I find it frustratingly hard to be sure new furniture is reliable: good brands 10 or 20 years ago may be cutting corners today.
Is it just the fabric that’s ratty or do the cushions need to be replaced? If it’s just the fabric and the cushions are OK, that’s what I used a slipcove for. Bought it on Amazon for about $40, took 15 or 20 minutes to put in on a recliner- a couch might take a little longer.
I’ve bought slip covers for at least two of my couches over the years. It does take some time to get them properly secured with upholstery pins (you know…the little corkscrew ones), but the results can be very good. Plus, depending on your level of patience, it’s nice to be able to take the cover off and wash it. This is especially true if you have pets.
I’ve also paid to have a couple antique pieces (a love seat and an upholstered chair) refinished and recovered. Very nice jobs on both, but not worth the money. Can’t imagine what it would cost now.
I’ve got a couple of these things to put over the couch, mostly for the cat hair thing. Easy to put on and take off; it’s not super confusing like a full fitted cover can be. Also helpful if you tend to lose things in between the cushions.
I had been on the search for something to cover my couch and loveseat to protect them from the dogs for ages. I spent a lot of money on different covers, blankets, sheets, etc. but every one of them required me to have to rearrange and tuck back in constantly. I came across a couch cover on Amazon that has been an answer to my prayers. It’s fairly easy to put on and once it’s on it stays put. The cushions have individual covers so it looks like I have a brand new couch and love seat. I wash the cushion covers once a week and the whole cover maybe every two weeks. Lots of dog hair and slobber in my house!
I’m not sure how to post a link, so just search - hyha couch covers. This brand has prints (I bought the blue green color). The print hides dog hair and drool until I wash them! There are other brands that have solid colors.
In that case, I’d try it. If it innards are messed up, then you’d likely lose some of the comfort in repairing it. But recovering it would likely be fine. You’d just focus on a comfortable cover.
Damn. I used to look at the articles in the fine decorating magazines that showed us peasants how the rich did it - they decorated for each season. I always wondered where they stored the furniture from the other three seasons.
Many new couches today are cheaply made: the underlying framework is skimpy and not meant to endure, so you end up having to buy another new couch in a couple of years because the one you bought has broken down and isn’t comfortable any more (and that’s not something easily repaired with a purchase from Amazon). If you’ve got a good quality piece of furniture, slipcovers are an inexpensive investment. Good quality furniture is not cheap, though.
What about reupholstering? Does anyone do that work anymore in these United States? I don’t know of anyone who does it or anyone who even looked to have it done. It was quite common in the old days, however.
For the cheap furniture, it’s not worth reupholstering; the cost to fix the underlying framework PLUS the cost of the upholstery job is as much or more than a new (cheap) sofa. For the older and better stuff, it’s still worth looking into reupholstery, but there are fewer shops doing that kind of work, a consequenceof the “fast furniture” mentality, so it can be really hard to find somebody, and they’re frequently booked up months or even years in advance.
One of the problems frequently cited by shops is the difficulty of finding workers. Upholstery in the US traditionally worked on the apprenticeship model: you learned the craft by working with an experienced upholsterer. As demand declined, lots of shops closed up without any successor; now shops report the demand is there, but there weren’t enough apprentices ten or twenty years ago, so there aren’t skilled upholsterers now.
Yay, these are all great! Now I just have to find a set that fits my particular couch. It has no back cushions, and the arms are the same height as the back, which according to my cursory search is called a Tuxedo Sofa.
My couch, footstool, and recliner in my living room are all mismatched. The couch is brown, footstool is a dark grey, and recliner is a very light grey.
But I bought covers for all 3 pieces of furniture in the same color so they all match. And if any of the furniture gets a mess (which happens constantly with a 2-year-old dog and 8-year-old kid in the house) all I have to do is pull off the cover, wash and dry it just like you would any bedsheet, and put it back on.
It makes furniture shopping easy because I don’t have to worry a lot about the appearance. Just things like the size and comfort level. Because it’s just going to look like the covers I buy.