Woman Who Fell In Love With £1,000 Velvet Sofa Makes Her Own For £38

There's nothing worse than finding an absolute must-have furniture item only to discover that it's out of budget.

That's what happened to 29-year-old Becky Johnson, from Brighton, who fell in love with a £1000 crushed velvet sofa she'd found online.

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However, instead of resigning to the fact she'd never own a sofa quite as lovely, she decided to take matters into her own hands, revamping her existing furniture using some £38 material she found on eBay.

Becky said: "I've been wanting a crushed velvet sofa for a long time and after looking online I just couldn't afford over £1,000 for one.

"There was nothing wrong with the sofas I already had - they just needed updating to match the rest of my decor.

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"I looked on eBay and searched crushed velvet material and thought £38 for 10 metres was a good price.

"l already had a staple gun indoors as I do a lot of crafting in my spare time anyway. So I thought 'well, if I spend £38 and it doesn't come out ok then I haven't lost a massive amount'."

Describing how she re-styled her sofa, she told LatestDeals.co.uk: "I made sure to cut the fabric to size before applying it to the sofa and left about eight centimetres of extra fabric either side of the fabric.

"This was so that once I stapled the fabric into place, I could then use the extra fabric to wrap over the staples.

"I went on to Wonderweb them into place using an iron. I had an old sheet over the fabric before I ironed it into place to fasten it, as the iron would ruin the fabric and this gave a really tidy staple-free look.

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"The whole new look cost £38 with a little bit of material left over which I'm going to use to make some small cushions to match the sofa.

"I found while doing the upholstering that I wanted to make sure I had a tidy finish, so after I'd done all the stitching, I left myself a little bit of material about one centimetre wide to place over the stitches."

"I used Wonderweb (an extra strong tape) to secure it into place and then showed a clean finish with no stitches showing.

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"You can use fabric glue as well but I stick with Wonderweb because I was worried fabric glue would make lots of mess.

"I already had loads of Wonderweb at home but you can get it from eBay or Amazon.

"I did the same to hide the staples on the arms and the back and it's still secure with no sign of coming loose and that's after two weeks of people sitting on it.

"If you want to do the same, I'd also advise making sure you apply a lot of pressure while putting the staples into the frame as without this it won't hold and the staples will just pop out.

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"Also, have plenty of staples before you start as you will be needing them - I used about eight strips of staples for a three-seater sofa."

Becky found the project kept her suitably distracted during lockdown and she's so happy that she managed to recreate the sofa of her dreams at a tiny fraction of the price.

"This helped me during lockdown as I ordered all the material delivered to my home, including the Wonderweb, so I didn't have to go anywhere and it was quick delivery," she adds.

"Within two days I had the material and was ready to go. It took me about three days to complete with doing bits here and there with a small child to pre-occupy and work around.

"I loved doing it because I felt sane for those few days and didn't think when' will this lockdown end?' as the days just seemed to blend into each other and I lost count of what day and hour it was.

"My little one loved seeing me change it and kept saying 'mummy, it's beautiful'."

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Becky now feels much more confident completing DIY jobs herself, and would encourage anyone else to take the same leap.

"The main advice I'd give is just to go for it! I never in a million years thought it would come out the way it did but it was so easy and I loved doing it," she said.

"Now I have a brand new looking sofa for £38. You don't need to spend thousands to get something you have your heart set on."

We're off to buy some fabric, ASAP! Becky makes it sound so easy...

Topics: Home, Home Decor, Style News, Style

Joanna Freedman

Joanna is a journalist at Tyla with a particular interest in highlighting women's issues and telling inspiring first person stories. She's also their resident foodie, and loves covering exciting new beauty launches, too. Contact her at [email protected].

@joannafreedman