A Diamond In The Rough

Is this a Diamond in the Rough?

Maybe...

To some it shows great potential.

To others...
 it should go to the dump.

I have what some might call an interesting definition of 'potential'

I see potential to a fault.

Pieces that really should be tossed find their way home with me to

be repurposed, re used, re discovered.

I found this French Sofa and it's matching chair on craigslist and absolutely fell in love

There was just something about it.

Something so feminine and timeless... that I managed to overlook quite a bit.

Stained, way beyond salvageable red velvet fabric,

chips in the frame and springs coming through underneath.

From a usable standpoint- a disaster.

Ever the 'potential' visionary,
 I was somehow able to see beyond all the work

the smells, the grunge...

I saw a gorgeous carved frame, curvy arms and the perfect petite size

Within 1/2 hour of first looking at it,

I had reupholstered it in my mind

in a bold red and white buffalo check fabric.

It was a perfect French country piece.

After convincing my husband,
 I carted it home and ordered yards of fabric.

Then began the task of taking off the old.
Wearing thick gloves and a mask

I pulled the pieces off carefully to be able to keep them for patterns for the new pieces.

There was old cotton batting lining each section and TONS of horsehair stuffing.

I re-used the horsehair (after a couple SUPER DUPER SIZE cans of Lysol and bottle of Febreze)

but replaced the cotton batting.

Next were the old spring filled cushions.

They were much better quality than what you find today in plain foam

so I decided to keep them.

I pulled off the old batting, rewrapped them in new

and made new covers edged in red cording.

It is just as gorgeous as I imagined it would be in the red check.

As much as I can tire of patterns and colors and want a change- 
this has stayed a favorite in it's sassy bold look.

(This was originally published back in May of 2010 when I was first blogging
 and was one of my first posts.
 I added a couple of larger better photos at the end of the post- 
Can you believe the others were taken with my Iphone and that was the camera I used  for all my photos on my blog until  last Spring? 
Insanity.)