10.15.2014

Navy Blue Velvet Sofas and An Upholstery Project

living room designs, living room decorating ideas - Currently Obsessed: Navy Velvet Sofas
I found a camel back sofa (at a thrift store) that I saw as a diamond in the rough and I've been working on it for over a year. It's no biggie. Not! This project doesn't settee well with me, but I've learned a tons (see what I did there?). Here are a few pictures to show you where things are with the project, but first I want to show you some pretty images of navy blue velvet sofas that inspired me to continue with this project.
love this velvet sofa and dark walls
Gallery wall above navy sofa. Succulent planter. By Emily Henderson.
I love the rich color and texture of velvet. 
The frame was in good shape but it needed a new covering. I put it in our library by the bookshelves because I have this vision of my kids studiously reading Homer's Odyssey on a cold winter's day and there's no finer place to do that than on a blue velvet sofa! Actually, the real reason is that we didn't have anything else in there yet (except our piano). I looked up how much fabric I would need to recover this sofa using this chart:

sofas..how much fabric
For the camel back I needed twelve yards. When I started my search for navy blue velvet it was not easy to find. Fabric.com and JoAnn's carry velvets but not the navy. I ended up finding some beautiful velvet on ebay for $12/yard!! That is a great price compared to what I found on other sites. 
Here's a nice process picture for you, stuffing and all. It takes a long time to pull out all the staples from the original covering and the sofa has pretty much looked like this for the past year.  Luckily, I've had some good friends come help me (more like I begged and bribed them to come over and help), which made the process fun.
Here she is now, looking a bit more recovered (here's another one) but still more to go. Sofa, so good (okay, I'll stop with the puns!). This beauty is almost done! I'll show you how it looks soon and blog about the things I've learned about upholstering furniture. 

12 comments:

  1. I will have to follow how this turns out. I need a new sofa desperately but I don't want to spend a small fortune because my kids are so little and will probably destroy it. I adore your choice of navy velvet- so rich and sophisticated. I love your sofa puns -too funny!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I can see the vision and love the fabric. It will look perfect in the library!

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh i love where this is going!!! love the blue velvet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh man, I'm in the home stretch of this upholstery journey. Thanks for your encouragement!

      Delete
  4. Oh I love your gorgeous sofa and the blue is stunning. Can't wait to see it all done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Marty! This is one of the craziest things I've done, but it's looking great. I can't wait to be done soon.

      Delete
  5. Love the classic style, and your gorgeous inspiration would keep me at it, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I needed inspiration to keep me going and the fact that I'm almost done makes me thrilled. Thanks for your encouragement!

      Delete
  6. That is an impressive project to take on Tracy, but I see your vision and I think it's going to be gorgeous when it's done!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the craziest thing I've done, but it's turning out looking so good. Thanks for the encouragement Lisa.

      Delete
  7. That is going to be so gorgeous! And I'm super impressed that you're taking that project on - I look forward to hearing more about how long it took and what tips you have to share.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is one of my crazy schemes to save money and learn a new skill, but man it's taking me awhile. Mainly, I'm trying to be brave, watch You Tube videos on upholstery techniques and not worry too much about my mistakes. Pillows will cover some mistakes, right? Thanks for your encouragement Kris.

      Delete