Taking apart a Couch!

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Hey reader!

It is time for me to get a new couch. Way back when I moved to California five years ago - wow that feels like not a long time ago -  I bought this off-white leather couch from a furniture store that shall remain nameless.

I asked if it was bonded leather - because honestly, bonded leather is the worst. I was assured by their slick salesperson that it was absolutely NOT bonded leather. Well, that salesperson should look into selling sand at the beach because even knowing what I didn't want didn't keep me from getting fooled. If you look at the picture, you can see the leather is flaking off - a sure sign that you are dealing with bonded leather. Bonded leather couches are only really made to last about 2-3 years and I stretched it to 5. I had to put a blanket over the back for a while or everything would be covered in off-white flakes.

To be fair, the couch was cheap and I put it through the ringer. It was time to get rid of it. I wasn't really comfortable donating such a damaged couch, so I wanted to get a peak at what a couch is made of inside. Maybe this could become a whole other project!

Looking at the picture above, you can see that the foam has all these holes in it. The "leather" has a tufted pattern that is actually created by a strap that pulls the leather through those holes. Since I am considering a tufted cushion for the piano bench, I wanted to get a good understanding of how that worked. I am at about a 60% confidence I could recreate tufting moving forward.

Once I got the back off the couch, I started to realize that there is almost nothing to couches. The back cushions were the same fluff I use in puppets tacked to a very slight frame. I am amazed it held up as well as it did!

I was worried about the springs being a real challenge, but this couch didn't have any in the back. It had one roll or springs in the bottom though. They came out as one big piece. All I did to free them was hit the connectors on either side of the couch lightly with a hammer and SPROING - freedom!

I managed to fit the entire couch in two garbage cans. That is pretty impressive when you consider just how large it was before. Most of the couch is made out of cheap press board and an absolutely bonkers amount of staples.

It was worth it though to make room for my new and aggressively green couch - this time made of genuine leather!


Green is a bold choice but I have plans! Also, literally the day after I started this project I discovered that one of my favorite makers is moving to YouTube - and her first project involved taking apart a couch. It has fully inspired me to customize my own couch someday! Check out Christine McConnell.

Keep making (or in this case destroying) cool stuff,
JoshPrime




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