A Mid Century Couch / Before & After

Hey y'all! I have some news...


MY COUCH. IS. DONE.

Finally. My parents and I finished reupholstering it and reassembling it at my apartment last weekend and it is beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a better piece for my place.


So, if you all don't remember what it looked like before we ripped it to shreds...here's a terrible Instagram photo...

Ahh, there it is. Obnoxiously colored and terribly, terribly itchy.

And here it is now, after several weeks of very hard work.

Not so accidental sneak peek of what my living room looks like... ;)

Mixing textures.

Cute little bun feet my parents found at Home Depot. Love the natural wood!

Tada! She is PERFECT. I've always wanted a light and airy living space, so my mom and I picked out this light grey herringbone fabric from Joann's. Totally nailed the exact look I was going for!

Considering this was my first time reupholstering anything, I'd say I did a pretty good job, with the help of my mom and dad, of course. Mom's practically a pro now! While I am still on the hunt for another throw pillow for my couch, I'm very happy with how it looks right now. I keep having to remind myself that style is a constant process and not something I can just throw together all at once.

And while I'm at it...here's another new addition to my apartment!

While my parents went on a road trip without me (I'm still a little bitter...), they surprised me and picked this guy up for me on the way home! I knew exactly where I wanted to hang it the second I got it to my place. I'd wanted some type of skull for decor purposes for months now so this was a totally awesome surprise. Thanks, mom and dad!

That's about it for now. I'm working on DIYing and buying a few more decor pieces before I feel comfortable giving a full tour, so hopefully this will tide you guys over for now. I'm stoked on my progress so far as I've only been here for two months now, but I can't wait to see what it looks like in two more months!

Natalie

Apartment Updates & Projects with mom

Hey y'all! It's been a minute since I've last given you guys an update on how my apartment is coming along so...here is what I have been working on!

As most of you have seen on my Facebook, I've been working on reupholstering a midcentury couch with my mom. It actually belonged to my best friend's grandmother, who was also like a grandmother to me. So not only is it the style I love, it also has some history behind it. 

I'll apologize in advance as I only managed to take iPhone photos of the entire process (what kind of photographer am I?!) but here is what it looked like originally. 

Beautiful shape, not so beautiful tweed. Not to mention it was extremely itchy. 

After a very brief search for new fabric, I decided on a light grey herringbone, trying to stay true to the time period but with a modern twist to it. 

I had never reupholstered anything before but my mom had done a few of our couches in the past. It's something I've always wanted to learn how to do as I love working with my hands and making things, and it's also just a good idea to continue learning new skills to exercise your brain! 

It took us several weeks to actually get the damn thing stripped. My mom and I are both busy bees, she definitely more than I, so it took a lot longer than it would have if we just sat down for a weekend and worked straight through it. 

I severely underestimated how long it would take and how much work it would be to remove the existing fabric. Not to mention you can't just rip the fabric apart; you have to keep the pieces intact so you can use them as a pattern for the new fabric. Otherwise your new upholstery is going to look lumpy and terrible and all of your hard work would go straight to shit. 

I thought we would never finish it. But alas...

We did it! Totally stripped to the bare bones. After seeing how simply couches are framed and put together, it almost pissed me off knowing how much people spend on them. 

So, after getting this babe ripped apart, my mom and I immediately started to cut the new fabric and lining out. Once that's done, the fun begins! 

My mom did all of the sewing and I helped with the manpower in the stapling. It's surprisingly fun! 

This is the progress my mom and I have made as of this week. She has been a tremendous help as I would likely never be able to do this on my own. All we have left now is the back panel and the cushions, and I'll finally have my first custom piece done! 

Natalie 

Moving: A fresh start

In my last post, I broke the news to you guys that I was moving...and I finally did! I've been in my new place for a few weeks now and I love it. Living in a downtown area is possibly the greatest thing you could experience because almost everything you need is within walking distance; i.e. I was able to walk to the movie theater last night to go see 22 Jump Street with a couple girl friends. I've wanted to live in this area my entire life and now I'm finally able to. I'm pretty proud of myself for getting to this point in my life.

Though I've been in my apartment for awhile, I don't exactly have it the way I want it (aka perfect) so I've been hesitant to do a post on it. My couch is still in the process of being reupholstered and I have next to nothing as far as decor goes, but I almost prefer that, I think. I like super light spaces with minimal decor and minimal furniture. After living in Denton and realizing how much stuff I had accumulated over the 4 years I was in that apartment, I've made a conscious effort to clean out my clutter and bring as little as possible to my new place. I'm very much preferring how I am living now.

All that said, I've had several friends ask me how my apartment is coming and how I'm liking it, so here are a few photos to tide you over until I've got it exactly how I want it.

 Enjoy!

Natalie

Fresh flowers from a neighbor.

One of my future projects...it'll be blue velvet. Eventually. 

Still one of my favorite estate sale finds.