Antique Sofa Transformation

You know the tufted, teal sofa in all of these pictures on our website? Well … it’s a fun story!

So, about 7 years ago, my husband and I were college students. We had 2 little kiddos, very little money, and some big dreams. I had started refinishing furniture and was really loving it, but had only done a few items by the time. And that did not include anything upholstered … just so you know.

I had started checking online for cheap furniture that I could refinish to make our very old, little apartment a little more cheerful in our general budget range of almost nothing. We were visiting my parents’ house one weekend, when I saw a listing for a very, very old, very worn out hand-carved velvet sofa. It was from the mid 1800s and had been taken out of an old church during a renovation and left outside in the weather until the person selling it had rescued it from the side of the road.

I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of it until it was already part way into the renovation, but let’s just say my hubby thought I was CRAZY!! And in his defense, not only did it look a little scary, but it was also a much more advanced project than I had ever done before.

And it was $150.

Just to be clear, in the days of college and 2 little kids, that was not a small amount of money for us!!

But here’s the thing … all the way back then, when I saw that listing, I not only saw the potential of that sofa to become something grand and beautiful, but I also saw it as a symbol of the business I wanted to create. I could envision it becoming a one-of-a-kind, beautiful combination of timeless history, and modern colors and aesthetics. I pictured it sitting in my home office, and pictures of it on my someday business website.

7 Years, a storage skunk incident, and 3 moves later, it’s finally finished and that day is finally here!!

So, sorry if this is a little sappy, but this sofa means a lot to me. It reminds me how long I’ve been working towards these dreams! It reminds me that old and worn out things still have so much life and beauty left in them. They just need someone to see the beauty within and let it back out. It reminds me that I was choosing to invest in my dreams even when $150 was a LOT of money to me.

And now it’s the starting point of my branding and my official launch of my Interior Design business. Thanks for following along!! I’m sure enjoying sharing my dreams with all of you!