project makeover - part one

Mr T and I picked up this gem from the local Carboot Market a few weeks ago. We always hear about some of the amazing finds, but have yet to hit the motherlode as we can't get up early enough on a Sunday - luckily a bit of bad weather meant that the crowds had stayed away.
In fact, this treasure was almost the one that got away. I had reached my limit of how much grubby, used stuff I could touch in one day, and that combined with the blasting of music through cheap, crackly speakers was about to send me over the edge when we stumbled upon the lounge suite. The stall holder was clearly as over it as we were, he took one look at us and said, 'You can have it for R400.' Geez. Clearly it had been a slow morning.

The thrill of the find was soon overtaken with the 'wtf do I do with it panic'. It was just too much to get my head around. No bakkie, no storage space, no upholsterer off the top of my head. Cue mini-meltdown. So we left.

As we headed out of town, rational thinking had the chance to take over and Mr T helped me see the light. And explained that he can help if I JUST LET HIM. Oh. Simple really. So off we went to purchase the said couch, which the seller was so desperate to get rid of at that point, that the price was dropped to R300. Stick that up your ass, Weylandts.

Getting the couch home was a different story altogether, which involved a few complete strangers with a bakkie who for a fee would drop it off on their way to Umlazi. It was Mr T's turn to have a mini-meltdown in the car when he realised that we didn't know these people from Adam. It all went pretty smoothly in the end, but lets just say that the owner of the bakkie who was the most respectable of the three had a scar across his throat. Yussus.

The wood needs to be refinished, and the back legs of the couch need fixing too - add a splash of new upholstery and I will have a most beautiful and really comfy new lounge suite. I'm leaning towards either mucky green or a pale gray fabric. As nice as the vinyl is, I really can't have wipeable furniture. The stitching, which is super rad HAS to stay. Any other thoughts?





PS. if you can recommend someone in the Durban area who does HOT reupholstery at a good price, please drop me a line.