$40 Couch Recover

Ok, I was so excited about this that I totally decided to wait to do the cloth wallet tutorial. I'm just going to jump right in. When MR. & I moved South we picked up sturdy, if not kind of unattractive couch for $40 from a thrift store.

Respectable, right?

Well we decided that when we moved into our new house in 3 weeks that we would have a new leather living room set! I was so excited. Then you know how things go. Pay for things here, Buy a few things over there and pretty soon our budget for living room furniture was not enough for a leather loveseat, much less a whole set. soooooo. I talked to Mr. and he agreed to help me. (he's cool like that) ok. so we armed ourselves with 40% coupons and headed to town. I got my inspiration for this bottom part here. this is so simple & such a good idea. seriously check it out.

What You'll Need ~

Fabric

 (measuring how much you need depending on couch size)

Staple gun & staples

Baking Soda

(only if it needs cleaned)

Scissors

Tape Measure

Patience :)

anyways, I wanted to cover the bottom in burlap. Because, well, I adore burlap. So off to Hobby Lobby I go and got 10 yards of black burlap (Mr.'s color choice) for 3.99 then used my 40% coupon. What a steal.

So then he mentions, "wouldn't it be cool to have the back and seats covered with something else, because burlap is scratchy." the man had a point. So we looked everywhere in that store and could NOT find anything remotely in our price range that was luxurious. Even with an extra 40% off coupon. So, sadly I agreed to leave. Then lo and behold, on the way home was a small fabric store that had a huge sign outside BLOWOUT SALE!

He read my mind and we pulled in.  One of the first pieces of fabric I picked up was a white moleskin suede. I smile and hold it up. "60% OFF" I whisper loudly. He smiles. He loves black and white. We get 4 1/2 yards. (we went back to get 2 1/2 more the next day. so if you want to cover the cushions and back 7 yards would be safe, depending on the size of your couch, of course).

On the way home we stop at the dollar store and buy 4 boxes of this. Great cleaner & takes smell and moisture out of furniture and at 55 cents a box, a pretty darn cheap cleaner.

We rip apart our couch (we left the fabric on and just recovered over it. We didn't feel we were "professional" enough so this is a good alternative to a total reupholster). then we scrubbed our little hearts out. I realize steam cleaning the couch would have done a much deeper cleaning, but after we got done ripping things apart, we felt we got it clean enough. the next few pictures are of the cleaning ordeal. The poor couch was tipped every which way.

Our little furry fella was supervizing. :)

Ok, we let it set for several hours then used the mini vaccume my awesome MIL got me for a house warming gift and got into all the crevices and swept up all the baking soda.

Now, time to start measuring and cutting fabric. I was so intimidated. But it soon became clear we had plenty of burlap. So we measured across the back stapled it on and trimmed off the excess. Really simple.

Then started with the white fabric

Stuffing here and pulling there to see if it would fit or if it needed trimmed.

Quick side note~ our couch had space between the cushions (which drove Mr. absolutely insane)

So I took and old foam blanket/sheet cover that someone had given to me. and wrapped the pillows all together, like a mummy pillow :) and didn't trim the edges so it would fill in the space. So if your pillows are driving you nuts, it's easy to do a cheap easy fix while your recovering.

moving on

we cut out and fitted and stapled the sides and arms

I was really excited at this point. it was looking amazing.

Our supervisor, hard at work. He was SO confused at what we were doing to our couch :)

Then for the back we stapled the white fabric to the back and pulled it tightly down the front and attached it to the bottom.

Then the cushions aren't attached to the couched. we made a gigantic pillowcase for them. I like simple. :)

I'm disappointed that I don't have more detailed pictures of this part. but it was so simple. If the width of your fabric is wide enough or even a little too wide, you've got it made! no sewing, just stapling!

 Measure, cut and staple. 

And WALLA ~~~~~

It's wrinkly already because the fabric wasn't properly attached yet, but Mr. was so tired and the new couch so comfy with the extra padding that he decided to take a nap on it.

New couch has the stamp of approval.

I'm really in love. I made the pillow and little couch quilt on the back

(another post. this one has gone rather long. if you're still here, cheers & pour yourself a cold Pepsi :)) but if you want a headstart on the pillow I followed this tutorial. super easy peasy

anyways, this is how we got our new amazing couch for around $40

Thanks so much for sticking around & checking this out.

I'd love to hear your thoughts or questions ~ M

Project #2 ~ Red Burlap Banner

Hi friends!!! Remember this picture? Last week was all about the lamp. today I'm all about the banner!

Ok, I'm so not doing well at taking pictures AS I'm doing things. I take about 200 hundred AFTER I'm done.. I'll try to do better at that. anyways, this one thankfully is pretty self explanatory!

First off I had some leftover red burlap

(I'm OBSESSED with burlap right now. so such a good item to have on hand. and so inexpensive.. moving on)

My sister and I get into these um.. adventures? together and we decided we were these big crafty people and stormed a 3 day sale at a gigantic warehouse. I walked in, my mouth FELL open. SO much stuff. well, I was using burlap to make message boards for Christmas gifts and had to buy a minimum of fabric. SO I ended up with much more burlap than I needed. which, is possibly the best thing that ever happened to me. Moving on, again...

I took my leftover red burlap and cut triangles. I traced a piece of paper first so they would all be uniform shapes and then cut over my pattern.

Then my black sharpie. Yep, no fancy stenciling for me on this. Good old sharpie. I know the edges aren't finished and the letters aren't perfect, but that's ME. Things that are too neat get on my nerves sometimes. totally no offense to perfectionists. All my in-laws AND my husband are perfectionists. The perfectionist gene absolutely skipped my family :) 

oh, and the black ribbon! Leftover as well. I simply hot glued the burlap onto the ribbon & about 5 min. from start to finish...

                                                                        This is what I got.

Not gonna lie. I'm tickled pink.. or red. (bad pun. i'll stop) :) I'm making these for people actually, so I put some in my stores. Feel free to check it out here.     Burlap is making such a HUGE statement in our new house. I'm so excited to get pictures up and show you guys!!!!


Well, that's all folks. next time, I'll be showing you how to make that adorable wallet that is in my etsy store! Stay tuned ~ M

Revamped Lamp

Project #1 ~ hymn covered lamp shade.

Yes, I did this :D I'm shocked as well!!! but it's so cute & fun. And NOT 

nearly as hard as I thought it would be!!!

Supplies I used ~

- lamp shade

- Mod Podge

- hymnal pages (any pages will work)

- scissors

that's it.

then to put my trim & decorations on 

- hot glue gun & sticks

- more hynm pages

- burlap

This is how it started out (please excuse my crafting mess). I've had 2 of these shades since we were married and my sister knocked one over while she was helping me spring clean and my puppy, W., chewed on the other one when he was a puppy. So this being said, they needed a facelift.

 So I started by using old hymn sheets that were left to the Mr. when his grandfather passed. I didn't want to touch these old hymnals because of sentimental value. Then one day, Mr. says to me, "Use them! That's what they're for!" oh how I love him.

So I did the corners first. I cut small corners so it's easier to work with. I used Mod Podge to secure it to the shade. It sticks immediately! & I started to feel frazzled at this point.  It looked UGLY and all I could think.. I ruined his grandpa's hymnals for NOTHING.

But I stayed calm enough to keep Mod Podging. and after the corners I started cutting the hymnal pages to size to adhere to the shade.

Hey!!!! It's taking shape. I did a tiny happy dance.

So I mod podged over the whole thing. and it started to look shiny and finished.

So I excitedly show Mr. because he's my biggest supporter and it was in memory of his grandpa. He smiles. "It's awesome, babe." I'm grinning like a fool. "It needs trim, not?"

I stop. He expects me to do more with this lamp? I'm frazzled the way it. (this is my first "bigger" project. I know for the season crafters, this is nothing. :) I'm a newbie.)

So I decided to take the easy way out and why black ribbon with some clear glass beads. Classy, right? Then one night I couldn't sleep and found this AMAZING tutorial on Pinterest.

(Pinterest addict right here. I admit it.)

So I sit there going, hmm.. I have extra hymnal pages... and the tutorial looked pretty easy. Oh what the world, let's try. It was early in the morning & I took no pictures of this part, but there is no way I could explain it as well as the link above. TRY THEM!

So this is the finished product. And since I'm slightly obsessed with burlap, I trimmed with the burlap I already had. I leave it sitting on the floor hoping Mr. would notice it when he got up early for work in the morning.

next morning. I come stubbling out of bed and hurry out to see if the lamp is still as cool as I remember. Laying by my laptop is a giant piece of paper that says "AWESOME LAMP :-)" This warmed my heart. Memories AND an amazing new lamp for $0.Yes, I am excited about this.


This is first of many projects. Check back :) next will be the burlap banner that you can kind of see in the top photo. It also cost $0!

Thank you so much for stopping by ~M

Welcome to Starting Behind Scratch! My own personal journey into blog land. I'm so excited you joined me on this adventure.

The reason for my blog is to journal the happenings of our crafty lives. My husband & I just bought a house. So ecstatic are we. However, I am determined I shall fix up this quaint cottage with as few dollars as I can. This is a blog to share idea's and help with money saving tips, while all the time being fabulously chic.

I'm so glad you stopped by.
~ M