Manly Leather to Feminie Fluff

We have this leather sofa that is oh so comfy we can't bear to get rid of it even though we do not use it in our living room anymore.  

When we remodeled six years ago, we knocked out two and a half walls to combine our den and and a small breakfast area into one large dining area that joined the kitchen with an open breakfast bar.  

I found an old dresser at a second-hand store which I painted white.  He-man built the two side units that flank the dresser, creating a built-in storage and serving area.  Gotta love a guy who can make second hand look custom built (which it actually is). He even copied the danish modern leg detail of the dresser on to each of the shelving units.

I didn't know what to do with the comfortable sofa after the remodel and He-man made it very clear that he was not ready to adopt it out.

Sorry about these poor photos.  They are all pre-new camera

So I placed it in the bowed window area at one end of the dining room and tried to preform "My Fair Lady" magic on the dear girl.  But how does one take man-cave comfy and turn it into danish modern contemporary?

Later on, when our large dining table went to live with another family, the leather sofa took it's place on the far end of our living room.  But it didn't stay there long.  I soon discovered that a comfy place to sit while visiting with the cook was missed by family and visitors alike.  

Like many others, we congregate in the kitchen area.  It's where the grand kids can eat with out dribbling on carpet.  

It's where moms can nestle in and feed their babies a bottle and still talk with the women (we are the cooks in our family). It's where company sits with their morning coffee and reads the newspaper.

As all good designer's know, if it is beautiful but doesn't function.... then it's not good design.  So the leather sofa found it's way back to the bow window.

All of this is the long way around of showing you my sort-of, kind-of, some-what reupholster project.

I started with a store-bought cotton slip cover.  Of course it didn't fit over the pillow topped back cushions and arms of the leather sofa.  But I found a zipper on the arm pillows and began pulling out stuffing.  

He-man couldn't believe that I was re-hauling his sofa.  I told him I would put the stuffing in a bag and keep it until I decided to bring the manly beast back to life.  But for now the he was being turned into a she.

This is where we will stop for today.  I know you are all dying to see the transgender operation but I also know you have to get to work or do laundry or feed kids or go to bed.  

And I am babysitting Boo and Tornado while Tara and JD are in Las Vegas.  Gotta go change a diaper.

Thanks for dropping by.  Hope you come back again tomorrow for the rest of the diy story...

I hope your day (or your night) allows you to find something (inside your heart or in a lingering challenge) that can be unstuffed.... something that can be reduced to a more manageable situation.  I hope you keep pulling it apart until you are satisfied with the outcome.


49. I am grateful for zippers.

Yaya