The Couch
May 31st 2004
My mum bought the couch in 1975. It was at Eaton’s, and cost something like $1000 which would have made it a very expensive couch indeed. It was the height of 1970s style, long and low, with squared off arms and piped fitted cushions. The fabric was a figured chintz, with quilting done in nylon thread around the major motifs of the fabric. It was peachy brown, with cream and brown flowers, and pheasants of cream, brown and rusty red with tailfeathers picked out in a slatey blue. This piece of furniture (with matching armchair) adorned my Mum’s first condo in Toronto.
By 1977, the couch was two years old, and Weener and I entered into the picture. The couch had been modified with the addition of a sheepskin on the back (my grandmother has the exact same thing on the back of her couch in her house, only it is fake fur. Is this where my mum got the idea?), but it was still looking pretty stylish.
By the time 1990 rolled around, the couch was pretty tired. The shiny chintz only had remnants of sheen. I had picked out a lot of the nylon quilting thread because it intrigued and annoyed me. The cushions were no longer capable of supporting the weight of a human. In October, we all went to England for a holiday. During that time, Mum sent the couch out to be reupholstered.
Upon our triumphant return…what was this?? The early 90s had conquered the styling 1970s couch. For some reason, Mum picked a pastel tapestry floral in cream, seafoam green and pink. The couch was a jarring assault on the eyeballs! This couch was suited for ladies gossiping over tea, not swinging in a stylish pad!
The couch languished until 1999, when it went off with Weener to Ottawa. By curious chance, the apartment Weener and Cindy rented was not painted for them before they moved in. It had been left the colour the previous occupants preferred, which was Pepto-bismal pink! The couch thought it had found its new home, as it actually fit the decor. Weener left the apartment a year or so later, to other adventures. The couch came home, and rested quietly in the garage until October 2001.
What happened in October 2001, you ask? Well, Kate and Chris bought a house! And since they were very poor, they agreed to take the tired old couch because it still was the most comfortable couch in the universe. The tired old warhorse of a couch limped in and performed faithful service for its new masters.
As you can see, the couch was pretty sad by this point. Its once fine plumage was now stained and dull. Its once plump cushions were now misshapen and deformed. It clashed horribly with all their other furniture. What to do?
I decided that I would try to reupholster the couch. I like the lines of it, and the style is back in again. Mum and I went shopping in April and I managed to get 15 metres of upholstery fabric for $100. The fabric is kind of a golden yellow, almost like brown sugar, with quilted lozenges in red thread and a little decoration of three lines where the diamonds intersect. It isn’t at tacky as it looks, really.
So not having done this at all before, I took the back off the couch and then saw how the couch had been reupholstered in 1990. The original fabric from 1975 was still there on the inside of the arms as well! So fun. I made some changes from the original style. I removed the skirt because I don’t like them. I also replaced the three separate seat cushions with one long cushion. Finally, instead of three fitted back cushions, I replaced them with three feather pillows that I made covers for. The toss cushions are a dark slatey blue sari fabric, instead of the light grey they appear to be in the photo. They are also feather.
I think it turned out really well! I still have the matching armchair, so maybe I will reupholster that next.