Did you ever???? Want to pull your hair out?

Did you ever take on a project that made you wonder if everyone else was right and you really were absolutely insane? 

I did.

Remember this lovely table?

You can read about it Farmhouse table

There is the story behind it, involving a woman and a barn full of furniture. 

Well........

I agreed to take on her antique couch. 

Now Wood I know, refinishing I know. Recreating I know...but reupholstering???

I'm crazy

Yup...plain ole crazy...certifiable. 

I LOVE this. Love the lines, the age the style the...well you get the idea. I just fell in love with it and spoke before I thought. Does that ever happen to you? 

Here she is. (this blog is picture heavy so be prepared)

 A thing of beauty right?

 Look at those legs! And still on it's original casters :) Happy happy happy :)

  Notice how that material is sagging? Don't touch it, it crunches.

That should have been my first indication that something nasty was under it.

But do I pay attention to those indications?

NOPE! 

I dragged it into my great room. Was not hauling it down stairs to my workshop..it was just to heavy! So brought out an old sheet and set to work. 

 I can not begin to count the number of nails I pulled out of this.

 The original burlap, and it was in great condition.

 I had every intention of saving the material in order to make a new pattern with it, but it was just to "yucky". And the smell..oy...what was I thinking??

 I didn't have to rip off the material here since there was none..lol Not sure if you can see all the nails in there. To hold the buttons on :) 

Yup...all of them had to go. 

 The back had to come off along with all those buttons. OH BOY what a job. And honestly I had to put on a mask. The smell was that bad.

 Still loving the burlap :)

 My clients Grandmother had reupholstered it  back in 1955. I thought it was kind of cool to see how much she paid for that foam. 

 Finally down to the nuts and bolts of this thing!

 I can not begin to count the layers of straw that made up the seating..yup that foam just covered a ton of it!

 Did you notice the vacuum cleaner in the above picture? I used it a LOT!!!!

AND I filled FOUR garbage bags of crap!

 One thing I did notice..all of it was hand carved. You just don't see that kind of quality anymore. And the nails holding this together are square..and hand made. I assume they were made by a blacksmith. Anyone have an idea on age? Please let me know. I would be ubber interested.

 Now for the fun part...putting it back together again. I used a piece of burlap I picked up at a yard sale last year to keep some of the original feel for the couch...don't worry, it isn't what is going to hold this thing together. 

 There...looking better already :)

 I went out and bought a staple gun (they were on sale at Canadian Tire this week) Happy me!

I then ordered foam from a foam place here. They are a pleasure to work with and you can get exactly what you want, they will cut it to suit whatever job you have. I would highly recommend them! 

That's all I have for today. I'm waiting on the owner to get me the material to finish this project up. She plans on going shopping tomorrow. I will have my Blackberry handy so she can send me pics...and hopefully by the weekend I can cross this off my list. 

Ohhh but the story isn't over. She also brought me another project. Hopefully I will get to that one next week :) 

Happy Valentines day everyone. Hope you get to spend some time with the love of your life. 

NEWS!
I was featured on a friends Blog, have a look at 
The Craft Pickle 
Check it out!  
Please spend a few min looking at all the wonderful projects by some wonderful bloggers in the links provided below. 

Linking up. 

 My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Our Delightful home 
A Diamond in the Stuff 
Homemaker on a Dime 
Very Merry Vintage Style 
The Thrifty Home 
Blue Cricket Design 
The Trendy Treehouse 
Domestically Speaking 
Miss Mustard Seed