Miniature Victorian Sofa

Several months ago I purchased a small table off the internet. When I went to pick it up, I noticed a really unusual piece of furniture sitting over in a corner. It was a little child-sized sofa that looked to be late 19th century. 

When I asked about the history of the sofa, the gal said she and her roommate had just moved into the house, and the previous tenants had left it. They weren't sure what they were going to do with it. I jokingly told her to call me if they wanted to get rid of it, never expecting to hear from her again.

A couple of weeks later I received a text message saying I could have it for free if I would just come and get it. This is not the first time I have committed to a piece of furniture with only a cursory look and a gut reaction. I went over with the SUV the next day and loaded it up.

When I got it home, I realized it would be a bigger project than I had imagined. It was upholstered in the ugliest fabric I have seen in a while - the red and olive-colored fabric on the arms in this picture. And the bold pattern was wildly asymmetrical. The springs were held in place by a piece of plywood. Sagging and lumpy, the poor thing was obviously in need of major help.

Forgive me for not getting a photo of the original condition. I did not realize I would be writing a blog about it. But let me say, my son thought I was nuts when he saw it. 

I did a little research on small Victorian sofas. Although it is the perfect size for children, I think it was probably a salesman's sample. It is small enough for one man to carry and sturdy enough for an adult to sit on.

I started by stripping the entire thing down to the springs, including: removing the plywood that had been screwed to the underside; pulling millions of tacks that held the hideous fabric in place; and rolling back layers of funky cotton and the original horsehair padding on the seat, back and arms. 

The best tools to use for the job of deconstructing are a flat head screw driver and a pair of diagonal pliers, commonly called dikes by electricians. The wood was so badly damaged by all the tacks used by multiple upholsterers (professional and amateur) that I needed to use wood filler to patch the gaping holes. Today, staples are used by upholsterers, but I only found tacks.

The wood was the dark original stain, scuffed and splintering. But with the beautiful burling, I knew that lightening the stain was my first choice. I used a chemical stripper, a plastic scraper, steel wool, and a toothbrush.

The main wood is probably mahogany and the burling might be walnut. I had done this before and knew how it would turn out. After stripping, the wood has a "dry" look and just needs some wax. I used Minwax Paste Finishing Wax. All the materials for the refinishing came from Home Depot.

I love the details on the back of the sofa!

I did not have to take the orange sofa as far down as this one required. (Those springs and padding had been better maintained.) So how did I know how far to take it? Every layer removed revealed an obvious problem - webbing hanging down, springs falling over and poking through, padding slipping and sagging like an old man's belly.

The arms came completely off when screws were loosened.

I spent days on youtube watching upholstery videos. This one by Kim's Upholstery did the best job of  explaining how to rebuild the guts. 

I bought the new webbing and the web stretcher at JoAnn's Fabrics, along with new batting and upholstery "foam." It wasn't like regular foam and came on rolls in 1" and 2" thicknesses.

 I also bought a package of curved upholstery needles and upholstery thread.

 I had some thick twine I used to re-tie the springs and was surprised that the twine would go through the eye of the needle! Just watch the video above if you need to replace webbing or retie springs.

 On top of the springs I layered burlap, the old horsehair (because I love the feel), the new"foam" and batting. I used the upholstery needle and thread to hand-tie the padding in place. Next I upholstered the piece with fresh muslin...using my new pneumatic stapler. (Say that out loud just for fun!)

The underside of the arm shows the new staples and all the holes left from old tacks.

 The trickiest part of upholstering was matching the pattern since I had selected a toile de jouy for the upholstery. If you are doing your first upholstery project, I recommend a solid fabric to keep things simple. I finished the edges by hot gluing a lovely gimp that echoed the pattern on the toile.

Our friend, Gryff, (short for Gryffindor) heads for the sofa when he visits. He is a miniature dachshund, so this gives you and idea of how small the sofa is. 

I love my toy carriage that is about the same age as the sofa. I will let children sit on the sofa but NOT play with the carriage.

My kitty, Yoshi, likes the carriage.

My dream is to place the sofa in the garden and take picture with my grandchildren - little girls dressed in lacy, princess dresses and little boys clean and combed, wishing they were somewhere else.

If you happen to be in the D.C. area with children, come take pictures with the sofa!

I am serious!!

The sofa will be waiting at the foot of my bed... when I get a bedroom.

New Life for an Old Sofa

According to my mother, this was one of my grandmother's first (and favorite) furniture purchases when she married in 1926. From Mom's childhood perspective, it was originally upholstered in brown "horsehair" that was itchy to sit on. All of my memories of the piece had a skirt covering the legs. For the last 25-30 years I have tried to talk my mother into exposing these great legs! So she gave me the sofa and I did it. 

And this is what I received. Fitting for Halloween - orange and scary. 

My mother had it upholstered in an indestructible orange fabric in 1968. Fur from every dog my parents ever owned was embedded in the fibers. That gray shading on the left is dog fur. Yuck. 

As I stripped off the fabric, I found small toys, game pieces, 37 cents in change, a TicTac, and an M&M - I microcosm of Grandmom and Grandad's life. I also found thread from the original greenish-brown velvet upholstery.

The wood was originally stained dark brown, but I forgot to take a picture. I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White, used clear wax and dark wax, then distressed it with sandpaper. The final touch was gilding wax.

 I remember this teal colored fabric from my childhood. My grandmother also used linen slipcovers in the summer, which I remember. 

The small samples are from Fabricguru. Selection and prices are good, and my order arrived in just a few days. I had to pay for the samples, but they gave me a discount code that more than covered what I paid for the samples. I will use them again.

If you look closely, you can see the gilding. The speckles on the wood are original to the piece - I guess their version of distressing. The blue fabric was what an earlier upholsterer used in lieu of burlap. You can also see how dark the original stain was.

I did my first upholstery shortly after college with help from a library book. Now I use Youtube.

My favorites are a series of 7 videos beginning here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YskrFzNoPKg

He is restoring a sofa the same age as mine. This is how the professionals do it!

A professional would have had straighter lines, but that would easily have been $1000.

I ended up finishing the edge with the same fabric I used for the upholstery - not nailhead trim or gimp. I felt like the sofa would be too busy. I like how it turned out.

I can hardy wait for my living room to be finished.  I will be refinishing(and sharing) some chairs from my other grandmother to create a room with a French cottage feel.

I bought the needlepoint pillows at Marshalls or TJMAXX many years ago  and would love to find more. I found a few on ebay, but they cost more than what I paid for them brand new! Any suggestions??