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121 Comments

  1. toni
    January 24, 2017 @ 10:48 am

    ” this sofa frame contained all of the tacks in the entire history of mankind”
    I will argue with you about that. I’m quite sure I had a chair with all the nails, tacks and staples in the world. And layers of upholstery to go with them.

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  2. Geraldine Emery
    January 24, 2017 @ 10:51 am

    All I can say is…Paul! What a guy!

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  3. FERN BENSON
    January 24, 2017 @ 10:55 am

    It is wonderful to see that Paul is your “partner in crime”, and talented to boot! My husband and I have the most fun and problems when we say to ourselves “oh yea, that would be fun to do”! Good news is that we have a warehouse for our business that stores some of these wonderful ideas we have yet to tackle, bad news is that there are these “ideas” taking up space……but another good news is that when we are searching for one thing or another I will discover these “ideas” and get excited all over again, well at least until the moment has passed and the “idea” gets buried again. I figure that when the zombie Apocalypse arrives I will have plenty of projects and plenty of books!

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  4. Jamie
    January 24, 2017 @ 10:57 am

    “If this is the wrong way to do this part of the process, please keep that comment to yourself….” Ha. Made me laugh. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Nicole
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:02 am

    I am so glad to hear from you !!!

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  6. phyllis
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:15 am

    Floofie paws is too rare and precious to not keeeeeeep!!
    I can’t even think about upholstery at a time like this (I don’t like gimp…double welt is pretty 🙂
    But those fancy feet are so cushy…HEY, that cat doesn’t claw on upholstery, right?!?

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  7. Carol
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:19 am

    Isn’t it ironic that Fletcher is on a velvet sofa with trim that doesn’t match! OR maybe it’s a sign?

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  8. joan riker
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:20 am

    Paul needs to be cloned in all age groups! Love the fancy feet cat!

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  9. Kay
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:32 am

    Now that I’ve finished screaming with laughter and venerating your wonderful Paul, I have to say that if you do not keep Fancy Feet, you are not the woman I thought you were. She is completely adorable, and her face says, “I am the perfect cat for Victoria, and I hope she realizes it before it is TOO LATE.”

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  10. Susan
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:34 am

    Your posts leave me laughing hysterically with self recognition and longing for a hero like Paul to rescue me from my misadventures. There should be a book and movie deal in your future!

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  11. Amber Schwarz
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:41 am

    I’m sure this is an extremely silly question, especially since I have no knowledge of upholstery or antique sofas, but I kept wondering why you had to keep the springs and couldn’t just stuff with foam or down or something else? I do love that perfect shade of blue grey that you found, I’m with you on the inner color troll, I have one of my own, and they are very insistent, aren’t they?! LOVE those floofy cat paws! Love this blog 🙂 So glad we got the circus to close too! Hooray!!

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  12. Gusmom
    January 24, 2017 @ 11:50 am

    I can just hear Paul’s big frustrated sigh when you embark on a project like this one. He knows he might as well not start anything else because he would be interrupted numerous times and finally have to stop what he’s doing and finish your project first!

    Love your blog and the entire cast of characters!

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  13. Katie
    January 24, 2017 @ 12:03 pm

    Love the kitties, love the upholstery story, thrilled that other commenters have been so usefully focusing on where you can get matching trim from but Victoria, I NEED to know: WHAT IS THE LATEST WITH YOUR KITCHEN? * wails *

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  14. Jennie Staub
    January 24, 2017 @ 12:09 pm

    I applaud your intestinal fortitude in even attempting to re-upholster anything! Oh, and I definitely applaud your choice of husband and finisher of your projects. I have my own “Paul”, well, sort of. I have a Jay. He does not, I repeat, does not, help out with any of my home decorating projects. I think he’s allergic to anything even slightly craft-related. HOWEVER, he is a long-suffering saint when it comes to my projects around our mini-farm. We purchased our house and 14 acres almost two years ago and along with the house came a very nice concrete-floored pole barn (which he has commandeered for his version of a man cave) but the four horse stalls on the outside I took to be converted into a chicken coop, potbelly pig stall, and feed room. He designed all of the interior upgrades we needed for the coop and then we built and installed them. We now have 80 chickens but still just the one pig…for now. Then I decided we needed to adopt a mini horse that needed a good home. So, again, Jay put on his drafting hat and designed a lean-to horse stall which we built over a couple of weekends. Most recently, I’ve adopted 3 goats that needed a new home and, yes, you guessed it…..super hubby came through for me again. Next up – straw bale gardening! And might I say, I love the floofy-footed cat! We currently have 9 cats between indoors and farm cats. My husband tells me that I now have my official “Crazy Cat Lady Starter Kit”! I personally believe that I should get another one to, you know, make an even 10 but he is oddly resistant to the idea.

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    • Tina Jeffrey
      January 24, 2017 @ 3:00 pm

      Thanks! I have a new home and have been looking for raised plot gardening ideas. I love the idea of straw bale gardening!

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    • Kiki
      January 25, 2017 @ 10:55 am

      Jenny, Tina
      can you pls explain straw bale gardening to an ignorant Swiss woman with a large garden? many tks

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      • Jennie Staub
        January 25, 2017 @ 12:08 pm

        You can Google the concept but you basically turn bales of straw (not hay) on their sides so the binding strings are not on the ground but on the sides and the cut pieces of straw are pointing up. You condition the bales for 12-17 days using copious amounts of water and sprinkling nitrogen rich fertilizer onto the bales and washing it in. This causes the bacteria living inside to begin breaking down the straw and forming a planting medium inside the bales. I just purchased a book on Amazon called “Straw Bale Gardens” by Joel Karsten in which he explains the entire process and even highlights which plants are good or not so good to plant in the bales. It works very well for people who don’t have a lot of land or space as you can put the bales right onto concrete or even asphalt because you are growing the plants inside the bale and they never touch the ground. It’s virtually weed free gardening since straw is what remains after a grain crop has been harvested, unlike hay which has the grass and other seeds inside the bale. I like the idea that I won’t have to get down on hands and knees to pull weeds and gather veggies and that my husband won’t have to beat himself half to death using the tiller to break up the ground.

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        • Kate in mi
          January 25, 2017 @ 5:49 pm

          What did you do for the back cushions?

          Reply

  15. Sharyl Murphy
    January 24, 2017 @ 12:36 pm

    Victoria, Fancy Feet looks like she of the Victorian castle….she might have to stay? Also good news, if you haven’t already you should get something in the mail from me this week. You know of what I speak. 🙂 Wishing you oodles of fun projects this year.

    Reply

  16. ActualConversationsWithMyHusband
    January 24, 2017 @ 12:57 pm

    Once again, you’ve saved me. I’ve been thinking (casually, in a not-going-t-do-anything-right-now sort of way) about reupholstering some things around here. And I’ve thought, more than once, “ooh, I could buy that and just reupholster it and it’d be perfect!

    Now I know better, and I’ll just throw that sofa out and buy a new one. Because I do not have a Paul, and I do not have patience.

    Reply

  17. Jean
    January 24, 2017 @ 1:02 pm

    No lie – I have that exact settee partially ripped apart in my garage that I got discouraged with and said “I’ll come back to that.” Thank you – I’m going to give it another go.

    Reply

  18. April
    January 24, 2017 @ 1:04 pm

    How much of Paul’s DNA would it take to turn my husband into a saint worthy of the adoration of…everyone!?! Sigh.

    Reply

  19. Rose
    January 24, 2017 @ 1:16 pm

    The only thing you are missing on this piece is some button tufting! (Probably better for Paul).
    I made a similar mistake with the trim on a lovely French armchair I was re-working. The upholstery was a beautiful shade of aqua (equal parts blue & green, not too light,not too dark) and the frame was a distressed white. I ended up using a trim in a white gold shade and it looked lovely.
    Your loveseat looks beautiful so far, good luck on finding the right trim.

    Reply

  20. Traci
    January 24, 2017 @ 1:17 pm

    Stunning! Maybe a local interior designer or upholstery shop would have access to trims that are not available to the average DIYer. Just a thought.

    Reply

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