I am finally reupholstering our loveseat that sits in the reading room/library.  The fabric has faded beyond the “worn, but welcome” look, which is kind of sad because I really liked the fabric when it first went on.

 Such a sad state this little love seat is in.  It was originally a crisp, casual linen-like plaid.

Once it became clear that I was going to be able to do this project I started looking at blogs and magazines with a discerning eye towards styles.

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I gave some thought to button tuck for the back, but decided that it seemed a little formal for the room.

 I’m fortunate enough to have an outstanding upholstery team.  Home Creations in Aliso Viejo, California does amazing work and are so customer friendly.  They can redesign almost anything and with the help of my friend, Carla, we came up with a re-do that should be a welcome change for the room.

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I did decide on a tight back sofa, instead of the 2 cushion loose-back the sofa is now.  I also decided that since the loveseat didn’t have a skirt I’d add wooden legs, similar to the ones shown above.

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Joan and Dan at for the love of a house always wow me with their design sensibility, so I visited their site for some ideas.  Their living room sofa has arms and legs similar to what I’m going to have changed on my loveseat, thank you Joan.

Country Living

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I believe I’m going to change the back to a very subtle camel back.  I like the look of this one (above).  The skirt and lack of arms on this little sofa made me think it was a bed when I first looked at it.  I do think it would be charming in a bedroom even though its a bit too fussy for my house.

 you can’t see our window seat cushion that well, but it has rotted from sun damage and will also receive new upholstery.

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I also want to use nail heads on the sofa arms, similar to this (above).

As you can see by the first image in this post, the sofa was a traditional, rolled-arm; loose back and seat cushion loveseat.  Clearly, the loveseat had seen better days.  Our reading room receives an inordinate amount of sunshine; we believe we’ve helped cut some of the sun by extending the overhang just outside the bay window, which shades the room a little more {fingers crossed}.

 Pottery Barn

I’m not sure about the arm on this sofa in the Landon Collection…I like the width but the slopping angle might not be right  for my reading room.

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I mostly posted this image because I like the British art above…how fun is that?

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I really like the higher back of this sofa but I don’t think I can afford this much change to the loveseat.

This phase of the project will include reupholstering the sofa and the window seat.  I hope to add a seat cushion to the Windsor chair and pillows for the window seat in the third and final phase of ‘rennovation library’.

I’ll be sure to post the pictures once the sofa and window seat cushions are returned.  Do you have a favorite style sofa? 

I’m visiting over at Tablescaper, visit this site for some great ideas!