A miracle happened a few months ago and I have yet to share it with you! If you are a blogger, a lover of DIY projects, or just someone like me who needs to pat myself on the back when I do something besides sit on my couch and watch Scandal or The Goodwife, you will understand the HORROR of this story. A few years ago, I was at a thrift store and I found this mid century modern couch that was exactly the shape of couch I was looking for. The only problem was that it looked like it only had one arm because it was just one piece of a sectional. Other than that it was perfect and it was only $50! I had to have it! At the time I was living with friends and had no place to put it but I was determined. I unscrewed the legs and loaded the whole couch into my tiny little Scion (man I love my car!), and drove to my mom’s house to make room in her garage…poor mom, her garage is the land of the forgotten; forgot to hobbies, forgotten college dorm furniture, forgotten childhood stuffed animals…you get the picture…lol.
So my one-armed couch sat there for years as I tried to coordinate with this upholstery guy who had done a lot of work for a friend of mine’s family. He is a lovely gentleman names Jose, who speaks very little English (he speaks Spanish) and has been working out of Azusa for years. I am embarrassed to admit this but I am not one of those people like my boyfriend who communicates easily with people from all over the world, regardless of what language they speak. I freak out internally! Every time I would talk to Jose I would think, “Oh my gosh I don’t know what you’re saying and I don’t want to look like an idiot or make you look like an idiot just because I didn’t pay attention in my high school Spanish class. Gawd I really need to learn Spanish! Ummmmmmm. No comprende? Ahhh should I even try to say it? I’ll sound like such a goober!” So I just stand there smiling so hard that my face hurts and nod my head agreeing with every word that’s being said, even if I’m being asked a question…lol. It’s so embarrassing! Needless to say, getting my couches done was a ridiculous feet, but eventually I got it together, but sadly it did take a couple years.
So back to the HORROR of this story. After all of that, I realized the day that Jose delivered my beautiful reupholstered couches, that I FORGOT TO TAKE A BEFORE PICTURE!!!! AHHH (hands on cheeks, Home Alone style)!!! I wanted to blog about it and tell you about my upholstery experience but it’s just not the same without a before picture! All was lost! Until one day I went to the Ark Thrift store in Pasadena and saw sitting there, another piece of what looked like the sectional that I had bought at a salvation army in Covina years before. It was a miracle!!!
So now I can at least share with you a little bit of what the original looked like. The long left side of my couch with just the one arm was covered in this fabric and is the original frame that I bought. Jose built the chase part for me. I chose a charcoal colored woven fabric that has traces of lighter greys and browns in it. Jose charged me $650 to upholster the old piece and build the new one and with the $50 I paid for it originally, the total price was just $700. The crazy thing is that I have seen couches similar to mine going for more than $3000!!! So while $700 might be a lot for a frugal gal like me, I’d say I got an AMAZING deal.
Also it’s been a while since I gave you any updates on my living room. Click here for a refresher of what it looked like before. I know it looks different from the last time that you saw it. I threw up a bunch of our old artwork because I was tired of looking at bare walls. The good pieces were all done by David, mine are pretty wack. I am still loving my Ikea Vittsjo coffee table hack. Some of you have asked me how it’s holding up and the answer is pretty good. They could probably use a touch up paint job, but I don’t really mind the used look. Truthfully my living room has looked like this for a while, so don’t be surprised if you get another living room update soon.
Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. I definitely missed you guys! Thanks so much to all of you who kept asking when my next post would be. I can’t tell you how much your support has meant to me. I am trying to get back in the swing of things…all while trying to learn Spanish….hehe… XO!
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