Tuesday 14 February 2012

Did you ever???? Want to pull your hair out?

Did you ever take on a project that made you wonder if everyone else was right and you really were absolutely insane? 
I did.
Remember this lovely table?
You can read about it Farmhouse table
There is the story behind it, involving a woman and a barn full of furniture. 
Well........
I agreed to take on her antique couch. 
Now Wood I know, refinishing I know. Recreating I know...but reupholstering???
I'm crazy
Yup...plain ole crazy...certifiable. 
I LOVE this. Love the lines, the age the style the...well you get the idea. I just fell in love with it and spoke before I thought. Does that ever happen to you? 
Here she is. (this blog is picture heavy so be prepared)
 A thing of beauty right?
 Look at those legs! And still on it's original casters :) Happy happy happy :)

  Notice how that material is sagging? Don't touch it, it crunches.
That should have been my first indication that something nasty was under it.
But do I pay attention to those indications?
NOPE! 
I dragged it into my great room. Was not hauling it down stairs to my workshop..it was just to heavy! So brought out an old sheet and set to work. 
 I can not begin to count the number of nails I pulled out of this.
 The original burlap, and it was in great condition.
 I had every intention of saving the material in order to make a new pattern with it, but it was just to "yucky". And the smell..oy...what was I thinking??
 I didn't have to rip off the material here since there was none..lol Not sure if you can see all the nails in there. To hold the buttons on :) 
Yup...all of them had to go. 
 The back had to come off along with all those buttons. OH BOY what a job. And honestly I had to put on a mask. The smell was that bad.
 Still loving the burlap :)
 My clients Grandmother had reupholstered it  back in 1955. I thought it was kind of cool to see how much she paid for that foam. 
 Finally down to the nuts and bolts of this thing!
 I can not begin to count the layers of straw that made up the seating..yup that foam just covered a ton of it!
 Did you notice the vacuum cleaner in the above picture? I used it a LOT!!!!
AND I filled FOUR garbage bags of crap!
 One thing I did notice..all of it was hand carved. You just don't see that kind of quality anymore. And the nails holding this together are square..and hand made. I assume they were made by a blacksmith. Anyone have an idea on age? Please let me know. I would be ubber interested.
 Now for the fun part...putting it back together again. I used a piece of burlap I picked up at a yard sale last year to keep some of the original feel for the couch...don't worry, it isn't what is going to hold this thing together. 
 There...looking better already :)
 I went out and bought a staple gun (they were on sale at Canadian Tire this week) Happy me!
I then ordered foam from a foam place here. They are a pleasure to work with and you can get exactly what you want, they will cut it to suit whatever job you have. I would highly recommend them! 
That's all I have for today. I'm waiting on the owner to get me the material to finish this project up. She plans on going shopping tomorrow. I will have my Blackberry handy so she can send me pics...and hopefully by the weekend I can cross this off my list. 

Ohhh but the story isn't over. She also brought me another project. Hopefully I will get to that one next week :) 

Happy Valentines day everyone. Hope you get to spend some time with the love of your life. 

NEWS!
I was featured on a friends Blog, have a look at 
The Craft Pickle 
Check it out!  
Please spend a few min looking at all the wonderful projects by some wonderful bloggers in the links provided below. 
Linking up. 

13 comments:

  1. WOW! Amazing detail! I would love for you stop by and link up at my linky party via: http://ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com/

    Mrs. Delightful
    Ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com

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  2. That's a huge project to tackle. I can only imagine the smell that went with that! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

    Holly

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  3. Looking good! I wish you luck! I have two chairs that I have to upholster. I can't imagine the smell, it looked like a mouse might crawl out in any second lol

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  4. Wow I love to see the way things were done back in the day and what materials they used. It's amazing how things like that can hold up but if we bought a couch from rooms to go it won't be around in 20 years let alone 100.

    Visiting from Whimsically Homemade

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  5. Amazing! I have a chair sitting in the garage right now that I'm very scared to start on - for all the same reasons!!! Are we crazy, or what! New follower! ~Lori

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  6. WOW! You are brave! I can't wait to see the AFTER!!! :-)

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  7. Yes...great story! I'm hanging on the edge of my computer chair waiting to see the finished sofa!!! How dare you tell such a great tale and leave me hanging! haha

    Thank you so much for linking up with the Cowgirl up! Linky party. We love looking through each post. We hope you'll link up with us again next week!
    ♥Linsey

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  8. Working on the "after" starting tomorrow. She is bringing me the material..I can't wait to get at it.
    :) Thanks for dropping by. Now if only I could figure out how to host my own linky party!

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  9. Wow! That was very bold, but I'm sure the after will be breathtaking. I'll visit again to check!

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    Replies
    1. Oh I can't wait to see this when it's done!!! I would love to have an "old lady couch".

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  10. What beautiful lines that couch has. I hope it turns out well--can't wait to see the finished project! Thanks for linking up to the Share the Love Wednesday link party!
    Mary

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  11. Hello, I'm a new follower and found you on Decorating Insanity. Hope you'll stop by and return the favor. I love the carvings and shape of this sofa. I wish you lived this side of the pond so you could reupholster mine, too! Its over 40yrs old and received some water damage during a move. Yeah, my fabric is sagging also, but no smell though! Whew* Thanks for sharing and have a good weekend.
    By the way, one of my favorite vacation spots in Victoria, BC to visit my BFF!

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  12. Nooooo I needed to watch you for the rest of the steps

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