How to reupholster a sofa or couch

It's not easy to upholster an old sofa or couch, but it's not that difficult either. If you are prepared to put in the effort, reupholstering an old sofa or couch can save you a lot of money, either spent of sending the piece out or buying a new sofa or couch.

 

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Jessica of Four generations under one roof reupholstered an old sofa by repurposing a set of curtains they had. While you may think that sounds a bit ridiculous, take a look before and then compare the finished sofa to the one shown left. Big difference for practically no cost! Not only did Jessica reupholster the old sofa, she also made a few modifications along the way. The back of the sofa was cut down to a straight edge for a more modern look. The old ratty sofa now takes pride of place on the patio.

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Here's how an old sofa was modified and reupholstered into a more modern piece of furniture.

She used 2 drapes previously purchased to reupholster the couch. They were actually hanging in this room until a couple days ago. I love the paisley print and prayed it would look ok on the couch. If you use drapes, you want to make sure you have a heavy cotton or canvas type material. These were perfect.

I have never in my life reupholstered anything, never mind a couch. If you are a professional, I would stop reading because my method will probably make your stomach flip. I used my staple gun and 14mm staples. I know you can use real upholstery staples and yes, they probably work better but I was trying to do this without purchasing anything so I used what I had.

To fill in gaps I cut up some old foam that I had and filled in the gap. You can purchase foam/batting at any fabric store but this worked and it was free! Lots of tucking, folding and stapling. I just went with it and once I got it the way I liked, I stapled away!

I originally planned on making piping for the edges and I still may, but I am happy with how the seams came out, so for now it will stay like this. I used my hand stapler for the smaller areas but if you have a staple gun, it will be your best friend for a project like this. This really was fairly simple. If you can cut fabric, place it on the couch and cut to fit, you can do this.

I wanted a straight back and the original couch was a camel back, so when I cut out the middle of the couch, I still had a bit of a hump. I slid in a piece of MDF and covered with the foam, batting and muslin. It’s not professional and far from perfect but it is solid as a rock and pretty sassy look-in if I do say so myself !