That Time I Restored a Vintage Couch.
What, like it’s hard? (TBH most exhausting project EVER.)
I still cringe looking down at my hands when I think about taking all the staples out of the frame. It was so fun though, definitely an experience I’ll never forget that helped me gain a new appreciation for makers of all kinds. The work and dedication that goes into a handcrafted work adds so many more layers of character in it to appreciate and enjoy. I remember after getting my place, I searched for weeks to find a couch but everything I saw fell flat. I was determined though, it was my first home and I was damned if I couldn’t decorate exactly as I hoped. Reupholstery and restoration was familiar to me, I had worked for a
local business with a talented team where I got to see how incredible that line of work can be when done properly. So after an unsuccessful search, I found a listing for a vintage couch and the rest is history. Months of finding time to work on it, stripping it down to its bare bones, getting covered in hay from head to toe (inside was still the original construction and I had the luck of the draw dealing with hay as the stuffing) and then making adjustments until the end result was perfection (in my eyes at least).
I loved some aspects of the original piece, the detailing on the corners and the rounded arms, but a lot of features got modernized. It wasn’t an easy process and there was times when it felt like it would never get finished so I questioned why I would willing take on such a project. A large part of why I did it was my inner upcycler screaming YES Let’s do this and knowing that if I managed to pull it off, this would never just be a couch to me. Family traditions have always been something I feel
strongly about. I remember as a preschooler being obsessed with everything of my moms, there are too many photos of me as a toddler in her tall boots trying to move around. As I grew older, I started collecting keepsakes, a pair of handmade house slippers of my grandma, jewelry and even a favourite spoon. My mom has figurines in the kitchen from her grandmother, silver platters and other dishware passed down from her mother that hopefully she’ll trust me enough
to take care of one day. In recent years it really hit me how much the quality of craftsmanship has dropped, we’re probably among the last generation where our parents may have keepsakes to pass onto us but we will likely have very little, if any. I mean think about that for a moment, how many of us millennials have apartments with some amount of Ikea (or equivalent) furniture in our places? Likelihood that those will be around to pass down like the dining set in our parents home could be? I mean I wouldn’t bet any savings on that, too much of a gamble. And while the concept of traditions is becoming somewhat antiquated, this really draws more to a two fold problem. It’s not a big deal if the idea of family keepsakes fades away but I feel like that should be more of a deliberate call to make about that practice, not due to poor quality of today’s market of “mass consumption”. Products, particularly furniture in this train of thought, that are quickly mass produced are so problematic. Most importantly, it’s correlation to increased waste consumption. If everyone is so concerned about
the environment (which we should be), why aren’t we more focused on manufacturers who build cheap furniture that’s only designed to last a handful of years of wear and tear before it needs to be replaced? A dining chair takes up the space of dozens of single use disposable plastics. Like many other frustrating societal problems, while there are options for furniture made of more sustainable material, it’s not exactly available at price points that work for the majority of us. Naturally none of this really sat too well with me, I like to believe the best in people and situations so I try my hardest to make things work before giving up on something I believe in. The idea that something is out of my hands to do anything about, lets just say that tends to go in one ear and then
out the other. That’s how I came to learn about the concept of upcycling and the ability give any type of product a renewed sense of worth. It started off years ago, just fixing things up with fresh paint and adding embellishments if the original look no longer was the aesthetic I liked. Eventually that grew into bigger projects and there was a time when more that half the items in my place were successful upcycle projects (a story for another time) and then finally, this couch. I think it’s safe to say this was the Mount Everest to my upcycling adventures and after all the energy put into it, her and I will be a forever package deal.
For anyone who has never tried it before, I strongly encourage giving upcycling a shot, a lot about what makes life great are the experiences. And a lot of things come with some degree of stress like important purchases (furniture, buying your first home, etc). So why not, once you’ve accomplished something like getting a place for yourself, take the time to fill it up with some pieces that carry their own story?
Whether it’s something you worked on yourself or purchased from a local artisan, its presence will change the energy of the room. Afterall, we spend so much of our time working to achieve these big milestones but sometimes we make ourselves miserable getting to the finish line. Do you really think that after you buy that place (especially if you were the type to sacrifice a lot for that goal), filling it up with generic pieces that have little meaning is the best idea? To some people that’s a thought that doesn’t cross their minds but to me, I’m always focused on stories and making things my own.