Old Sofa? – Give It The Slip

Do you have any older furniture in your home that you really love but that frankly is looking a bit tired?  And the cost of new upholstery isn’t in the budget right now?  Slipcovers may just be the answer 🙂
I love our sofa.  It is like an old friend.  Long night chats with dear friends over wine and cheese have taken place here; tea parties of all sorts have been enjoyed; one of our sons-in-law,Jeff asked our blessing to marry our daughter, Sara, as we sat on this sofa; the news that we would have our first grandchild, Jeremy, was announced here one Christmas morning; tears have been shed on this sofa; and it has often been the scene of good, long, hard, belly laughs, the kind where you can’t get your breath.  It is indeed like an old friend, a witness to so much life that has taken place in out home.

This love seat and chair belonged to my grandparents.  Oh the hours I spent curled up in these listening to the stories the adults told of the “old days” and so fondly I remember the vision of my dear grandmother sitting here reading her Bible and then praying for all those she loved.  I could pretend that I am not sentimental about these pieces of furniture but you already know better than that.  They are a part of my history and that of my children as well.

When it was time to give then a face lift, I decided to go with slipcovers instead of reupholstering them again.  This was partly because I thought if I slip covered them, I could change the look of my living room with the seasons just by changing the slip covers.  I COULD do this, but so far I haven’t.

I had the slipcover for the love seat made by my upholsterer.  The sofa and chair I slipcovered myself.  When I was choosing the fabric for the chair slipcover, I had a several samples of floral chintz fabrics laid out trying to make a decision.  I am normally quite decisive about these things, but not this time.  Then it came to me, why not use a little of each of them and create something really fun and different?  So that is exactly what I did, a little of this fabric and a bit of that…all floral chintzs in similar colors.  It worked, and it has become one of my favorite chairs.

Even though I had already slipcovered the chair, when I decided I would make the sofa slipcover, I ordered the instructions and found them very helpful.  If you are thinking about making a slipcover yourself, I would encourage you yo check out this website I found that will allow you to purchase a step by step on-line tutorial for $10.  The directions are not hard to follow, just be patient with yourself.  If you have basic sewing skills you can do this.  

If, on the other hand, you haven’t seen a sewing machine since junior high home economics class, you may want to go in another direction and purchase a slipcover.  We have a resource for you for that too.  You can find really nice fitted slipcovers for $29.99 like the one pictured here:
Check out all the various styles and fabrics at www.uglysofa.com.   I’m sure you will find one that can work for you at a price you will be happy to pay.

Bringing new life to some favorite old furniture will give your home a lift.  Though these are only cosmetic changes they can help you enjoy and appreciate your home in a new way, and that’s important.  But as we always say what really matters in making your house a home, is not just a material change at all.  Our hope for you is that along with these cosmetic changes you will find more love, more joy and more abundant living 🙂