LOVESEAT // found, now & in between

HOW TO FIX UP A WOODEN LOVESEAT
WITH LEATHER CUSHIONS

Are you getting sick of that picture yet?? Don't worry, I'm almost done with it. Here is the story of my wonderful wooden loveseat: 

THE FIND: 

Guess where I found it?? That's right...on the side of the road, in the summer of 2008. This was probably one of my very first SOTR finds. At the time, I drove a red Mercury Sable (Mable the Sable. Mabes for short) Obviously, it wouldn't fit in Mabes. So what did I do? I parked my car and sat next to the couch until my Dad could come in our family mini van. :) 

Since this was the beginning of my DIYing and road side finding, I didn't have sense enough to take step-by-step pictures of the fixing up process. You'll have to deal with a boring written tutorial. 

THE FIX UP: 

1. SCRUB WITH LYSOL WIPES AND BLEACH: You seriously don't want to get other peoples germs in your home. Ew. Warning: it'll take the finish off. 

2. STRIP WHAT'S LEFT OF THE FINISH: With my Mom's help, we stripped the finish using Klean-Strip. Worked like a charm. Pic above is halfway through stripping. 

​3. REINFORCE SEATING: You can't tell from the pic, but some of the metal springs were coming apart. I reinforced mine by using thick canvas fabric. Just stapled it around the edges as tight as possible. Is this the best solution? probably not. It's entirely possible to remove the "spring" and cut wood to fit in the space. 

​4. STAIN AND SEAL THE WOOD: I picked up some wood stain from Home Depot and that was that. Maybe I'll do a later tutorial on how to stain furniture......

5. FIND PERFECT CUSHIONS: this was definitely the hardest part. It only took me 8 years to find the right ones.....

THE CUSHION EVOLUTION:  

Fall 2008 the loveseat makes it to the second floor of Latimer Webb at Mississippi College.

I purchased cheap-o dog beds and sewed awesome pillow covers. The room smelled of ceder.

The dogbed cushions lasted a year before getting too flat for comfort. In the fall of 2009 I had to replace them with these outdoor cushions that were too large. As you can see, this couch is the perfect size for a cat nap and homework.

The outdoor cushions lasted a while. This is fall of 2010. My couch has seen many good days. And many good video blogs with my college roommate. (check out what she's been doing since this picture--reclaimedproject.org)

From fall of 2011 to fall of 2013 the couch cushions were covered by this lovely blue sheet. This was a poor-girls attempt at disguising chewed up cushions. Three girls and three dogs. Enough said. Sadly, the day after this picture was taken, the loveseat was moved to storage for about a year. These two moved off to Texas (Ashlee since then--www.instagram.com/ashleewalworth)

Soon! The couch was upgraded to this grey cover with a wicker chair cushion. O.oo Yes, that's the grey coffee table from THE PICTURE.

THE GLORIOUS FIND:

I won't tell you my secret as to where...but I definitely love dumpster diving. And this particular day of dumpster diving, I found an amazing leather love seat! The armrests were fairly broken, so I robbed it of its cushions. The seat cushions weren't attached, so that was easy. The back rest cushions were attached. Luckily! I'm always prepared, so I whipped out my knife and chopped them off.

Unfortunately...in my slicing and dicing, I cut through the fabric. Silver-lining: they were easier to clean. I Lysoled the snot out of the insides.

SEWING THE LEATHER:

Sewing leather isn't that difficult, it's just time consuming. You gotta get a leather needle. And definitely a thimble. Please excuse my nails. #crafterhands

Sew it up! I used the holes from the original seam to make it easier to sew.

It doesn't have to be perfect. Just secure.

CLEANING THE LEATHER:

Because duct tape fixes everything, this couch's previous owner taped up the ripped seams in the corner.

​FYI duct tape and leather is not a fun combo to clean.

I found this tutorial on how to clean leather.

Use 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup oil, whisk together and apply with an old cloth or paper towel. Test an area first! 

For me--I didn't get amazing transformation results with this method. For peace of mind I went on and wiped down all the cushions. It's good to know your trash is clean. 

When sticky won't come off easily--the best solution is MORE STICKY! I just used packing tape. Turn it inside out and make a little "lint roller" on your hand. 

I kind of "pushed" the sticky off. It's a timely process. 

Worked like a charm! 

SIT BACK AND RELAX

While they are a tad too big for my love seat, I can't imagine anything more comfortable! It's still my favorite place to nap.