Not too long ago as I was driving around in my Chevy pick-up, I saw an old couch just sitting on the side of the road. I suppose someone just set it outside for the garbage man to pick it up and take it away to the dump. If that was the case, I couldn't blame them; the couch was pretty run down looking. The cushions looked like they lost their fluff, the fabric looked dirty and stained from many spilt cups of coffee, and the upholstery had a gaudy pattern that included a combination of greens, oranges and purples. A much acquired style indeed, but at least the two matching pillows were included.

Since I lacked any furniture in my apartment, I figured I would give this pathetic looking couch another chance at life and decided to load it in the bed of my truck and take it home. After getting it home and unloading it, I tried to figure out what I could do with it to make it look a bit more…appealing. Of course, I washed it out as best as I could and even used two bottles of disinfectant and fabric fresheners just to get the weird thirty day old coffee smells out. Smelling like roses and mountain breeze, my new couch still needed a makeover, stat.

After a couple hours of watching home improvement shows on cable television, I decided that the easy fix-up for this broken down couch would be to reupholster the cushions and tie a fabric slipcover over the entire couch. Lucky for me the foundation and overall structure of the couch was still in good shape and I didn't need to tweak anything other than adding some touch up shellac to the feet.

Reupholstering the cushions wasn't as hard as I thought it would be; like most old couches, the cushions had zippers where you could easily take out any old fluff and re-stuff it. Seeing that the old fluff consisted of old acrylic like material, I went out and bought a natural cotton filling like the ones used in futon mattresses. I opted to use cotton mainly because I know it's durable and will last me for quite awhile.

After I was done stuffing the third cushion, I was ready to move on to slipping a fabric slipcover over the couch. I purchased an affordable one from a local fabric and home store in a solid, navy blue color, complete with tie strings at the bottom to prevent it from coming off easily. Fitting it over the couch and cushions, I was able to reinvent this run-down, decrepit looking couch and give it a new personality just by adding new stuffing and a slipcover. To top it off, I purchased two matching pillow shams for the pillows in a slightly lighter navy color and completed the look of my new couch.

Needless to say, I was quite happy that I decided to take it upon myself to give this couch another chance. Perhaps I should go driving around the neighborhood more often, maybe then I'll find a suitable coffee table and bed.