Friday, September 12, 2008

Sneak Peek

Over Labor Day weekend, Blondie stayed home while the rest of us went camping. The plan was for her to work on reupholstering our living room couches.

Bless her heart, she came down with a bug that weekend. And since it's a little difficult to be creative while hovering over the toilet...well, you can imagine where the couches ranked on her list of priorities.

But now she's started on them! oooowooohoooo! (that was a squeal) I'm so excited!

Here's a sneak peek:



Hard to make out exactly what that is, isn't it? I know. Such a tease, I am.

There are 4 different fabrics in that picture. Yes, four. On one seat cushion. (Just trust me on this. It's gonna be awesome)

You see, I've decided I want something a bit different. A bit eclectic.

I'm bored with having the same pattern throughout the entire couch. I've tried the all-over slipcovers too. But I found "slip" to be the operative word there. I quickly tired of having to straighten them, tighten them, pluck, push and pull on them every time someone stood up.

Blondie is making new covers for each seat cushion. Each cover is reversible. We can get a whole new look by simply flipping the seat cushion over. Pretty swell, eh?

Ok, I must confess. The whole get-2-looks-out-of-1 thing wasn't some brilliant brainchild of mine. Rather, it was born out of necessity.

I wanted to use one of the patterns for the seat cushions but Blondie insisted on the other. After a estrogen-infused highly-spirited debate, we took it to JD for a tie-breaker. We each plead our case for our favorite fabric. He voted for hers (hmph. What do men know anyway?)

My couches, my living room. I should win, right? WRONGO! After all, Blondie is investing the time into this and just happens to be the interior design major, so....we compromised. My pick on one side and hers on the other. (Somehow I have a sneaky suspicion every time I leave the house, I'm going to come home to find them flipped to her side up)

The back cushions are getting a total make-over...not just new covers, but cut up and reshaped and completely re-worked.



To give you an idea of where we're going with this, here's some of the inspiration pieces we're working from (from Victorian Trading Co)



Perhaps the best part of this whole project? (Ok, besides the fact that I've pawned off the hard work enlisted the help of my wonderful daughter) This isn't costing us a dime. Most of the fabrics were given to me by my mother. We're incorporating the slippity slipcovers we already have. And the other goodies (that I'm still holding out on showing you just yet) are things I've collected over the years.

Oh, I can hardly contain myself. I can't wait to show you the before (aka "why we're doing this"), during and after pictures.

Soon. I'm hopeful. Very soon.

8 comments:

Ginger said...

I am new to blogging and I am getting addicted fast!!! I enjoyed reading your blogging pages. What a cute house you have. And the fabric for the couch looks great. Can't wait to see the finished project. I cracked up over the picture of the boys in the pool with the frog. You have a great sense of humor.
Ginger

ROSE VINE COTTAGE said...

Hi Kim,
By clicking on the new template, white minima, that is exactly how I lost everything, you have to backup your existing info on your blog somehow to save it all or else you will loose everything in your sidebar! Be careful.Not only that but my biggest problem with switching over is that it took away my "Layout"tab so I couldn't do anything with the blog. You are suppose to be able to update the template but it will not let me??

ROSE VINE COTTAGE said...

I forgot to tell you I love those couches in your pic's. Now about that link, I added a picture of me and put a link on there to go to my other blog and you can also get to it via my profile. Thanks so much for feeling my pain LOL.
Hugs~Kelly

Unknown said...

Hi Kim!

Your blog looks so pretty!

I want to thank you so much for the KINDEST comment you left on my blog about my little paintint! You made me feel so good! I am going to keep it aside for my boys. It is my very FIRST painting I have ever done and I should have it as a keepsake for them! I know it would mean a lot to me if I were them. Thank you so much for pointing this out to me!

Big Hugs,
Amy

Unknown said...

Hi Kim,
I'm here from Rose Vine Cottage... Cute blog. I can't wait to see the end product! I love VTC. I bet it will be very pretty!
~Liz~

Sharon~heartsongs said...

That couch will be great. I love the ones from Victorian Trading Co. I keep looking at those but they are so expensive. I am looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

Sounds fun! Can't wait to see how it all turns out! -Julia :-)

Cynthia's Cottage Design said...

HI Kim, love your blog and the sofas are beautiful! should be fun doing one! Thanks for you sweet comments on my kitchen too! The door with the pull does open like a cabinet, not a drawer, I just wanted the farm hinges to go all the way down, uniformly ;) so after a few mis-pulls by everyone, the kids figured it out finally ;)