How to overhaul a vintage sofa for FREE!

I’ve had this gorgeous vintage sofa in my store for probably 4 years now!  I was immediately smitten with the beautifully carved wood.  Even the gaudy gold didn’t turn me away since I have an uncontrollable love for things Italian-made like these items currently in my store, The Blue Building.

But I must admit that I have been super intimidated by the very thought of how to overhaul a vintage sofa.  I can do simple upholstery but every time I would inspect this piece, I would walk away shaking my head. Me?  Completely overhaul a vintage sofa?  Yeah right!

The fabric  was torn and outdated but I loved her immediately!  My first plan was to reupholster this beauty with my own crazy quilt fabric.  I have been saving these examples on Pinterest since her arrival!

It started out, as so many of my projects do, as THAT great piece that will be a show shopper!  I was saving it as my “special project”.  Needless to say, until yesterday my “special project” sat untouched in the same condition in which it some arrived 4 years ago!

Over those 4 years, she did have a few different looks but you must admit, that fabric really can’t go incognito into any vignette!  But I tried.

Finally the inspiration came at The Chapel Market this past October.  I wish I had a better picture but take a look at this beauty from Littleville Blue.

Littleville Blue simply stripped the fabric off of this beautiful settee to nail this exquisite vintage look!  The cotton batting might be a little too primitive for most mainstream taste but it certainly makes a statement…and gave me some much needed inspiration.

Here she is…stripped and ready to go!

This was so much easier than I thought it would be.  I started by simply grabbing the trim from the top right edge of the sofa.  It was a little tough to tug on but once I got it started, it pulled off easily.  The fabric was even easier.  Since it was old, it pulled right off.  I had to work at pulling the stripped fabric from the very edges and needed to remove all of the upholstery tacks.  Many of the tacks came out as I yanked (technical term) off the fabric.  This, couple with the dust from the old fabric, was the most tedious and annoying part of the process.

She still needs a good vacuuming and perhaps some touch up paint around the edges but isn’t she beautiful???  I suppose I should have waited on this post until she was prissied up but…I just couldn’t wait!  I think I will still keep her with the intention of eventually completing the crazy quilt upholstery.  In the meantime, however, she will blend nicely into every corner of The Blue Building!