My sofa project

I decided a little while ago that my living room sofa was not working for me. It was cute, I'll give it that. But it was NOT loungey. Definitively not wide enough for my boyfriend and I to sprawl on and watch movies. I'm hoping to find it a new home since I have no other room to put it in. I knew I'd never find a sofa that would suit my needs and my budget so my boyfriend and I built one. Since our carpentry skills are limited, I am quite surprised it turned out as well as it did. We finished building it a few days ago, and I painted it Friday.

Since I wanted something low and loungey, I figured the easiest way to get what I wanted would be to get some cushions, and basically build boxes for them. Instead of buying foam for the cushions, I went to Ikea and bought cushions from one of their sofas where they were sold separately from the frame. There were 4 cushions - 2 for the base and 2 narrower ones for the back. So working with that we built one main base that houses the 2 larger cushions and an individual base for each of the narrower ones. This is the main base before I painted it.

We used rounded fence post toppers (?) for the feet of the main section (I have pieces of furniture pads underneath them in the photos because it weighs a ton and I'm worried it's going to dent the floor), and casters for the feet of the 2 smaller sections. This way the smaller pieces could be wheeled around the living room to accommodate different seating arrangements. Because I wanted a pile of pillows along the back of the main section and I was concerned they would take up too much space, we built a ledge along the back (which you can see in the third photo) to house the majority of the pillows, leaving ample room for sprawling.

I've had a couple of chances to try out the new sofa (I'm on it as I type this) and it's incredible. It's so versatile and ridiculously comfortable. I need to make new covers for the seat cushions. I bought the covers from Ikea for them but they are a thick canvas and cat hair sticks to it in an obscene way so I need something more cat friendly. I also just threw on a bunch of pillows for the photos below, but I need to buy fabric for new pillows as well. I'm thinking of sticking with neutrals, with lots of texture, and maybe a couple pillows in jewel toned colours to work with the rest of the living room and kitchen. I'm also considering stenciling the frames, but I have to give that more thought.

Here are some photos I took of the sofa with different placement of the smaller pieces.

Skram

Skram is a furniture company based in North Carolina that I discovered on 2Modern's site. I was totally smitten with their simple yet modern lines that are very classic and timeless. "Spare but welcoming, the furniture is an exploration of elemental form, of lightness and weight, of balance and asymmetry." Their products come in many wood options that offer a wide range of looks. Beautiful craftsmanship. Go have a look here, or click on my favourite items below to go directly to the product pages.

Juan Manuel

Juan Manuel Montes de Oca is a young architect from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who emailed us recently. He just began his independent career, having worked for an architect before, and wanted to share with us his first work. It's the design of a small apartment for a young man who was on a tight budget. Juan Manuel designed EVERYTHING - the sofa, table, lighting, all but the Jacobsen chairs. I am so impressed. I adore the low wall unit that runs the length of the space - ideal for HIFI storage and propping artwork. I am also quite taken with the dining table and how it attaches to the wall.

Juan Manuel also included some photos of a small boutique he designed 2 years ago that is so sleek and modern I had to share it too.

Thank you so much Juan Manuel for sharing your work with us. I think you've got a very successful career ahead of you!

Jason Martin

Jason Martin describes his style as a "highly edited mix of seemingly opposite styles. Mixing minimalism and whimsical, preppy with bohemian and old world with family friendly, Jason creates very personal spaces for each client." I love bio blurbs especially when they nail it like that. We featured Jason's work back in December when he was pulling his website together and now he has emailed that the site is ready to rock. Look at the goodies there now! These are great rooms with lots of vintage touches and a look that should inspire!

In the red

Valentine's day is fast approaching, and you've got to get your significant other a gift - quite the dilemma. In the spirit of this occasion I found some great gift ideas at 2Modern, in red of course, in case you were in need of some inspiration.