Fast No Upholstery Tricks to Update Your Couch!

Are you looking for ways to update your furniture with No Upholstery?
I can sew....but like a lot of people...I like NO SEW options too!

The couches at Sweetwater are in pretty good shape.

The rough and tumble wear from kids is not an issue in our house anymore...

Well....except for Marvin!

But through the years there have been times when a couch looked pretty shabby....

and...there was NO budget for a new one!

That's when I learned a few tricks to do a couch update on a budget!

In fact these tricks might even be able to salvage this couch.....

well....maybe not....but I bet I got your attention!

People think I know how to upholster furniture....I do....sort of!

I do a combo of slip covering and upholstery!

And It works pretty well....

remember the couch we recovered in Polar Fleece?

Well....that one wasn't shredded....but it was pretty out of date!

This was a case of ALMOST reupholstering because we actually took the old fabric off and did some more detailed stapling and sewing.... worth it but a LOT of work!  It was great that I had an awesome and fun partner to work with!!  That made the process worth a laugh or two along the way!

I know....I know....I promised you NO UPHOLSTERY tricks....

The cushions on the bench are an example.

I get a real giggle whenever I look at the stats for my blog...

This post 

ALMOST NO SEW BOX CUSHIONS  has gotten over 15,000 hits if you can believe it!!!



I guess the idea of
NO SEW is pretty popular!

Those box cushions aren't the only ALMOST NO SEWing tricks up my sleeve!  

A couple of years ago I sewed some slipcovers out of sheets to make the dark colored couch feel a little more summery!

This project involved quite a bit of sewing....

Here is a link to that post if you DO like to sew!

When I got the slipcovers out this year, they looked a little shabby and I just wasn't in the mood to SEW...or not so much anyway!

My solution.....

• I bought 10 yards of some nice Khaki colored stretch twill...
• I cut pieces to fit around each cushion with lots to spare.
• I stretched the fabric tightly around each cushion and sewed ONE seam in the back for each.
• On the bottom cushions....the fabric just tucks in tightly to make a smooth "slipcover".
• On the back cushions...the same technique as the box cushions...just wrapped like a package and slip stitched closed.

They turned out great....super cool and comfy to sit on....and the stretchy fabric is great for getting a tight fit!  All in the space of about 2 hours worth of work....not including the hours I spent browsing in the fabric store!

I especially like the fact that they are easy to remove to wash....just in case!!

I used the leftover fabric to make some cooler feeling pillow covers for the chairs in the living room too!

I used the "pillow sham" Technique for these!

Learn about that in this post....not NO SEW but pretty darn easy!

Which like in the kid's book...If you Give A Mouse a Cookie....

leads me to....

If I tell you about one project....

I will probably need to tell you about another one that fits the 

NO SEW theme....

Since I always buy WAY too much fabric....

the extra blue and white fabric from the box cushion project resulted in a summery look for the basement family room couch cushions last summer.

The covers are on the couch right now....

BUT...

that project led to the Winter Warm Up Look using some yummy red print...

using the same

ALMOST NO SEW technique....

The box cushions and couch cushions for $35 and a couple hours of work!

And when the weather turns cooler....

they are on the shelf ready for a 10 minute swap out!

So if your couch needs some sprucing up.....or if you just like changing things up once in awhile....

You don't need to spend much money....

You don't need to spend much time....

You don't need to wait...

All you need to do is ALMOST NO SEW something!

Have a great day!

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