The short version of this post: Dog devours couch. Couch becomes a project. Project goes exceedingly well. Refinishing and upholstery, awesome. Couch doesn’t fit in new space. Waah.

And now, for the longer version.

What an upset greyhound can do to a couch

Poor, poor couch... devoured

Glorious, vintage danish modern couch, turned into bits of shredded foam by Rocketdog while we were on vacation and the housesitter was out. Not something she did on a regular basis, thank gawd. She passed on about a year and a half ago, poor pookie. We miss her.

But back to the couch…

This baby was an antique store find picked up for a mere $600 — well worth it when the original fabric was intact. I always intended to recover it, so once the dog had her say I figured it was time. Had a furniture doc strengthen some wonky joints. Refinished the wood myself with a very tedious wet-sand and oil process. Then I picked out some fabric and left the frame with Richard, an able upholsterer.

Ta-daaaa! Click the pic to bigify. It’s impressive.

A 9′ behemoth of a couch that screams gondola. Who wants to go for a ride… anyone?

The sexy curves now get the attention they deserve. And in spite of my novice refinishing, the wood glows like it never did before.

And that fabric! So yum. Robert Allen Loop Around in Bark. I took a chance on a bold pattern. Slightly nubbly but with a sheen here and there when the sun hits it… sometimes it looks silver, sometimes pale blue.

If you look close, you can see that there’s actually no silver thread. The sheen comes from the interplay of white and black weave. Love the warm yellowy gold woven in there with the brown. Lovely. A touch-me upholstery-weight fabric — you should really click the photo to see it closeup.

Okay, done swooning.

As I said before, I absolutely love how this project turned out. However, I started this ages ago, well before we started talking with an architect about how to make the most of the small living space in our new house (more on that another time). Yes, everything in the livingroom will change. And at 9′, this couch is just way too long to put anywhere. What to do, what to do?!

For now, I’ll just cover it with a sheet and try not to gaze upon its fabulousness.