How To Update Your Old Couch In 20 Minutes

When we sold our house in New York, we got rid of all our furniture aside from a couple dressers. We decided it would be better to start fresh in the new house instead of trying to make all the old stuff work.

Being the thrifting queen that I am, I was absolutely up for the challenge of finding a cool couch. Much to my husband’s chagrin, I came across this beauty at a thrift store and knew it was the one. (Our ideas of “cool” differ slightly.)

It was clean, sturdy, and passed the sniff test. I bought it immediately.

While I love the pattern and the craziness of it, the skirting along the bottom made it extra bulky and dated. So with a 50/50 combo of brute strength and pliers, I gave it a quick upgrade.

The problem-that’s-not-really-a-problem with old furniture is that it is usually built well. I really had to yank on this piping to get it off. My children looked a little concerned when they came in the room and saw mommy happily tearing fabric off the couch we just bought.

Someone sure went wild with a stapler back in the day.

This was a super quick project that took very little talent and required minimal cleanup. I’m not recommending that everyone go ripping the skirting off their furniture, but if you find a neat vintage piece that could use a little TLC, don’t forget this is an option!

Depending what I end up doing with the rest of the living room, I might do something with the legs of the couch as well. Paint, stain, completely replace with a different style… there are lots of things that could make them really pop. I just don’t want to get ahead of myself though, since I don’t have much else in the living room at the moment.

There you have it, our fun, vintage couch that looks like it successfully completed a weight loss program. Stay tuned, more home upgrades are already in the works!