1. The hole is patched, spackled, and painted. I think we may now call it completely fixed.
2. The walls are painted.
(We decided not to fuss with the woodwork today. It can wait. It is waiting even now. Look, you can just sit right there and watch it wait for me to get paint on it. I have very patient woodwork.)3. The car is fixed, and we are keeping it.
4. I got the job.
5. I have some very fine friends.
Thanks for your help, Colleen. And thanks to Nicky too, who wanted to come to the painting party, but had to stay home because the highway was closed due to snow.And now, a quick survey. I know you saw that my couch up there is in need of some serious help. It is dirty. It is also very cute, and quite comfortable. If I had money to burn on home decorating, I'd have it reupholstered in a minute, but I don't. I need some ideas for making that beast look pretty in front of my pretty wall. They need to be cheap ideas.
Here's what I've thought of so far:
a. I could make a slipcover. If you vote for this plan, you have to say what color you think it should be. Colleen and I think burgundy.
b. I could rent one of those upholstery shampooers from the grocery store and shampoo the thing, which might work, but if it did work, I'd be left with a pink couch, which is not my favorite color for a couch or anything else.
c. After I've shampooed it, I could paint it with fabric paint. I don't have any experience with fabric paint, so I don't know if this is a good idea or a potential sticky mess. Fabric dye? Magic marker? Is there anything I could use to change the color of the couch while keeping the fabric?
d. Your idea here.
Please vote for your idea of the best option in the comments. Saying my couch is ugly and should go out on the curb is not one of your choices. Thank you.
15 comments:
Your walls look great -- congratulations! I think burgundy is a good choice. And I hate to say this but I really think you should THINK about upholstering instead of a slipcover. And I promise I will never say it again but I think you'd be happier with it in the long run.
However, a slipcover would cover up the pink and provide a nice warm accent in the room.
what is the job?
I'll be working as an independent contractor, editing and writing for a firm in Philadelphia. It's part time, and I can do it at home.
I've got a shampooer with upholstery cleaner attachments...you may borrow it! Shop online for a slipcover...re-upholstering is something for the future - it cost megabucks!!
So when are we going to move to the next project?? ;-)(I'm in the painting groove now)
I'm for trying to shampoo first. If you don't like the results, at least you'll have a nice clean couch to put a slipcover on.
i would clean it first as well before putting a cover on it... and i love pink :-))
I think I got the snag on my vintage knitting pics fixed. Take a look and see if they show up now.
slipcover!
It just seems more you, somehow.
Oh, and ps, I'm So So impressed with the wall.
Oh, and CONGRATS on the job!!!
I vote for cleaning only. Save your money for the big re-up later. And I like pink.
OK, I have a question. I guess there is something about upholstering that I don't get -- it seems to me that both upholstering and slipcovering are going to use about the same amount of fabric to cover the piece of furniture -- why is upholstering so much more expensive? It seems easier -- you pin the piece on, then pin another piece on (I can't figure out how you make them stay though) -- but why would it cost more to upholster than to slipcover?
I understand, Elsie, that you don't want to learn to upholster, so I'm not recommending that anymore, but I just want that one little piece of information -- someone, please?
Sooooo, am I correct in guessing that the next joint project will be the woodwork?
One of the things that I have learned about upholstering is that it is expensive. One reason is that the old fabric is taken off prior to putting the new fabric on. And, especially in older furniture, the soft insides are loose - ie not the exact shape that they piece of furniture should be. Hence, the charge is for the fabric, the stitching labour, and the labour to effectively re-build the couch into the correct shape. Does that make sense?
Oh Binser, that makes a lot of sense. Hope mom sees this... I'll remind her to look.
I'm going to shop for slipcover fabric sometime in the next week or so. I'll post about the process, which I'll be inventing for myself as I go along. Should be fun.
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