So listen, I’m the girl who was very nicely asked to stay out of a wood shop in college and was told, not once but twice and in two different sewing workrooms, “Thanks but no thanks. Please look but don’t touch.” My talent is clearly in designing things, not in the actual “making” of things.

So in this blog post, what I want you to know is not HOW to recut a sofa physically, but that you CAN recut a sofa, with a talented upholstery professional. This blog will be the saving grace for you if you inherited a chair or sofa that is truly ugly, yet one that you hold onto and suffer with out of guilt or love.

Did you know you can take a piece of upholstery and:

1. Cut down, reduce and even totally reshape the arm?
2. Cut down and reduce the back? (We could have modified the back less extremely in this case and could have opted for a  softer arch, but for this project I wanted to go mid-century modern)
3. Replace the legs. (Yes! We went from a turned curvy leg to a chunky block foot.) Big difference.
4. Naturally the reupholstered fabric makes a world of difference in the overall feeling and vibe of a piece.
5. Think behind the 18” square pillow at each corner. Notice the bang you can make with custom pillows, too – altering both their shape and size for interest.

So there you have it: a “new” old sofa.

Happy Sofa out there!!

About Donna Hoffman, The Interior Design Advocate™

Author of the popular home design system, The Decorating Genius System – 7 Simple Steps to a Great Interior, Donna is the country’s foremost consumer advocates in interior design in addition to being an award winning designer herself. “Using my design systems and strategies, I help people eliminate “decorating struggles, frustration and spending mistakes” so you can get fabulous results when decorating your own home, or hiring the right contractors.” The results are people get that more beautiful home, spend smarter and finally eliminate decorating stress.  A former QVC show host and now known as The Interior Design Advocate™, Donna is here as your advocate, making sure you get wise in design so you can get what you want. For more information or to get your copy of the video series, The Decorating Genius System – 7 Simple Steps to a Great Interior, go to www.TheInteriorDesignAdvocate.com.