The Sectional - Before
A delightful couple from Wenonah, NJ called about updating their sectional sofa. It is a tuxedo style with a single chaise. They had shopped for a new one, but had not found any contemporary sofas that fit the space. The new options were too long or too high to sit in front of the windows.
Apart from the worn (and patched) fabric they were concerned that the sofa was showing its age in some other ways. The cushions were too soft - having lost some resilience through the years. The filling in the throw pillows had compressed uncomfortably. And the chaise seat had a deep sag that they tried to fix with a plastic stiffener under the cushion, but it sagged too!
Fortunately, all those issues could be fixed as a part of the upholstery process. We flipped the chaise over and found that the sagging seat was caused by some support strapping that had stretched and pulled away from the frame.
Working Out the Details
When we went to pick up the sofa, we brought some sample cushions so they could pick the feel to replace their cushion cores. A higher density foam with a medium firmness gave them the support they wanted without feeling too hard.
“Foam is measured by two standards: density and compression. Density refers to the amount of material in one cubic foot of foam; the more dense the product, the more the cubic foot will weigh and the more support it gives without ‘bottoming out’. Compression refers to the amount of force required to compress that cubic foot by 25 percent and is often called the ‘firmness’ of the foam - hard, soft, medium.”
We settled on new pillow forms with a woven inner cover, filled with synthetic fiberfill that is soft, cushiony, resilient and hand washable. They would give improved back and head support and a fresh, full look.
The fabric selection was a little more involved. We brought some sample books with fabrics in the wheat and sand tones in the rug they wanted to complement. They also wanted a more contemporary look without any large pattern and away from the traditional mini-print of the original fabric.
We also sent additional fabric samples from our own research once we understood the specific colorways that interested them.
Robert Allen fabric : Ribbed Solid color Driftwood
They fell in love with material from Robert Allen Design that had a subtle ribbed texture with a muted stria feature as well. At 60,000 double rub rating, it was a very durable choice that would hold up for many years. (Learn about fabric durability) They were worried that the lighter driftwood color might show stains and soiling so we recommended to have their fabric treated with the Alta stain release treatment. At $150 to treat the 30 yards their sofa would need, it was cheap disaster insurance.
As a final detail they wanted to re-style the ends of the rolled arms by replacing the single buttons with an outline of decorative nails, similar to some other furniture in the room.
The Updated Sofa
While the fabric was being treated, we removed the old upholstery, fixed the chaise foundation, shaped new cushions and ordered the replacement pillow forms. Once the fabric arrived, the usual cutting, sewing, fitting and stapling put a revived look and function to their sofa. Wenonah (in Gloucester County NJ) is in our service area, so the pick up and delivery was included at no charge. We had fun watching as they plopped on the new cushions and leaned back into the pudgy pillows!