I’m more awesome than I thought I was.

I grew up with an oddly-shaped couch, and have apparently grown emotionally attached to it.  Teacher Roommate and I locked horns on this issue in late November while Diminutive Roommate attempted to mediate.  I didn’t realize how much I wanted to keep the couch until Teacher Roommate started pushing to get rid of it, and she pushed pretty hard.  I got defensive.  I said I didn’t want to get rid of it.  She said it was dirty and the upholstery on the cushion was in bad shape (true).  I agreed, and said that was fixable.  She said she was willing to just replace it.  I said that wasn’t a reasonable option, because that would mean I would have to buy a new couch at the next place I lived whenever that was.

And on and on.

bird's eye view

Eventually we decided that the couch cushion should be recovered and the rest of the couch steam cleaned.  I looked up pricing on getting the whole couch reupholstered and after a few $900 estimates (minimum), I started asking about slip covers: same price (which is absurd).  I stalled.  I sat on the couch day after day in December wondering what would happen to my comfy childhood heirloom.  A friend from the kung fu studio came over.  I mentioned my conundrum, and he said something surprising: he had reupholstered an entire couch of his own, without any professional training or assistance of any kind.  He had a look at the couch.  We decided that recovering just the cushion wouldn’t be too hard.  It could be done.  I had the time and energy.  I had just learned how to sew in order to make myself a cape (which is turning out pretty Renn Faire-ish).  All I needed was the ambition to take on a project that felt overwhelming due to my inexperience.

So I did it.  And now it’s done.  I’m pretty proud of myself for this one.  I was doubtful that I could do this on my own.  I’m feeling pretty slick about it.  It even has a zipper on it!

amateur win!

It’s looser than I want, but tough shit.  I’m not fixing it.  It’s done, and I’m happy enough with it.  Now all I need to do is get the rest of it steam cleaned, and this couch might have some new life breathed into it after all…