The Makeover Story of a Duncan Phyfe Sofa (Pure and Simple Blog)

From a lonely living room to a thriving office!

I have a love for all things old. They are built to last. They are sturdy. They are unique.

Like people.

:)

Old furniture is my weakness. I've considered starting a rescue mission for old furniture that no one wants.

But the thing is, we do want it.

It just needs a little makeover. A little love. To bring back it's original shine.

Take this Duncan Phyfe sofa for example. Kind of dated (whew that fabric). And kind of smelled like cigarette smoke.

Here is another Duncan (both were sold at our estate sales). Beautiful bones! Sad demeanor.

But their original shine is there. Can you see it? A quick search on Pinterest will help.

OH - there she is! :)

So back to the first Duncan Phyfe. This pretty girl was just waiting to go to her new home, hoping that someone would see her light.

And they did.

Bought from our estate sale.

Picked up by the fabulous Mark Baity from Baity's Custom Upholstery.

And voila - magic wand waved - her light is restored!

If you are curious -- here is the cost analysis of restoring light to a beautiful sturdy unique piece of furniture vs buying from a box store.

Vintage Sofa: $200 (price will depend on condition)
Fabric: You will need 13-15 yards X the price per yard of fabric that you choose
Upholstery: $500
----- Total Cost (w/o factoring in fabric): $700

Sofa that will last a lifetime & is uniquely perfect to your home and your style = priceless

Sofa may last 5-10 years depending on how often you use it, if you have pets/children/jumping monkeys/etc.

----Also not uniquely perfect to your home and your style. Just a sofa.

My preference will ALWAYS be old furniture made over to shine it's light back into the world. :)

Now back to writing my grant proposal for that old furniture rescue mission.

Until next time...