Once upon a time, we bought an upholstered coffee table at a damaged furniture clearance center. I think we got a fairly good deal. Honestly, I don't remember how much we paid for it. Maybe fifty? It seemed like a decent piece of furniture. It was sturdy. The drawers worked. We could put our feet on it. You know.
Then when we got it home I realized the upholstered top had a tear in it. How did I miss that? Oh well. No turning back now. Slowly the fake leather vinyl stuff fell apart until we got to look at this beautiful thing every day:
Lovely, right? It was definitely one of the most embarrassing things in my home. I had been wanting to recover it for ages, but I was a little intimidated. I mean, the bottom had so many screws. What if I undid the wrong ones? I finally decided that if I broke the thing it would certainly be no loss.
So. Screwdriver. Deep breath.
Here. We. Go.
Takeitapart!
The most difficult/time-consuming part of this whole thing was pulling out the staples that held the old fabric in place. My hands were definitely a bit raw when the whole thing was over.
Once all the old stuff was off, I just had to staple on my new fabric. [Wait. I should talk about the fabric. I bought this a few weeks ago and then hemmed and hawed and fretted (I cannot think of a more current way to say this) about it forever. I had convinced myself that this fabric was horrible and I needed to get more fabric, but then I decided that I would not waste the fifteen bucks I spent on this fabric, so I just sucked it up and went with it. And I'm glad I did because I actually think it looks pretty sweet. Although I'm still not convinced that a plum velvet or yellow chevron stripe wouldn't be more awesome. If I could find it for cheap. Which I probably couldn't.]
After I had already started to screw the top back on, I decided I wanted to tuft it, which was a bit awkward, but doable. I could have just unscrewed the few screws I had already done, but then where's the challenge in that? I just used the original buttons, and I dig it.
Voila!
I am liking this room a bit more each and every day. You can read about those pillows on the couch here, here, here, and here.

















What a great transformation! Love the fabric you chose it goes great with the couch! I hope you'll share this at my link party Friday!
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at everything you do!!! You are my hero!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! When I saw the "after" pic, it was like my eyes breathed a sigh of relief. Ha! I love it! I'm over from WhipperBerry, btw. ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://arlingtonmama.blogspot.com
Great makeover I love it!! Thanks for sharing. I am happy to be your newest follower. Please stop by for book club if you're interested--connie, measuredbytheheart.com
ReplyDeleteHopped over from Addicted 2 Decorating...
ReplyDeleteLove the transformation! How did you put in the buttons though? I don't know how to 'tuft', so I'd love to know.....
BRAVO... very impressed! I featured you over at WhipperBerry today!
ReplyDeletekisses
@Carol-Anne (Use the Good Dishes!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
"Tufting" is basically pulling the upholstery and padding tight against the back of the piece of furniture (the top of the table in this case)using a button and thread. The original table was tufted, so the table top already had holes drilled in it.
Using embroidery floss and an upholstery needle, start from the back side of the table top and push the needle through the hole, foam, and fabric. Thread the fabric through the button and then push the needle back through the fabric and foam and to the back of the board. Pull the button as tight as you can, and secure the thread to the board. I used a washer to secure my buttons.
Centsational Girls' headboard tutorial includes good tufting information: http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/01/diy-simple-tufted-headboard/
I hope that helps!!
Great Job! I also have a leather ottoman, I have been thinking of recovering. But It seems like such a big project and I am scared of messing it up. but now I think I may be able to do it. Thanks for being my inspiration.
ReplyDeletehttp://suburbsmama.blogspot.com/
What a great transformation!! And I loved seeing all your cute pillows again! ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for linking this up with {nifty thrifty sunday} last week!
I hope to see you again tomorrow!
xoxo,
Vanessa
great transformation!
ReplyDelete