Couch Project - Part 1

This is my couch. I bought it for $20 at a yard sale. A couple of years ago, I did an emergency recovering because I was having family over for Thanksgiving - and it lasted a lot longer than I thought it would (mostly because I did it with sheets, which are really too thin to upholster with). I pulled all the maroon sheeting off and tossed the foam seat.

I'm looking at this and wondering... do I want to keep the rolled arms and the poufy bottom trim? I'm thinking no, but I need to see what's under there before I make the final determination.

The bones of this couch are good - the frame is strong and the springs are intact, but there are things I dislike about this couch too. The back is slanted away because the back cushioning is actually giant pillows. I don't really like that. The couch is also too deep to be comfortable sitting on. It's great for laying around, but when you have people over and they have to sit, it's awkward. The couch is too low and too deep.

I'm thinking I might restructure the back and build cushioning out to make a real back piece rather than rely on giant pillows. Again, I need to uncover it to see what is possible.

Hmmm... Immediately ran into unexpected stuff. Like long, barbed metal strips that run up along the back sides. And a bazillion staples. Apparently this couch was made to be disposable because no one in their right mind would sit there an pull out all those staples (and yet, I did).

As you can see from the stain in the picture above, we may have some rust problems with the springs. They've definitely stained the under cloth, but are the springs still strong enough?

The springs have also broken free from the frame in a couple of places. They appear to be held in place by these little metal red tabs - and the tabs have broken in half on the loose springs. Is there some place I can buy those metal tabs, maybe? Or do I need to fashion another way to reattach those.

This is getting pretty interesting. The arms have wood forms on either end to give them shape, then spars between them to give them strength, covered by foam. Debating on keeping that foam or replacing it. It looks pretty worn and gnarly. Also wondering if I want to keep that curved shape or make it less curvy. Need to consult with Darling Man about preferences.

This is the bottom. I'm wondering what these little studs are for. At first I thought maybe for when the couch sat directly on the floor (the feet may have been an afterthought), but they were covered by the upholstery material, so I'm not sure.

See how awful the foam looks? It seems to be in good shape, just looks bad. Still debating. I will leave it on for now until DM tells me how he feels about the big curvy arms.

I got half the couch undressed today. I'm hoping to get the rest done tomorrow so I can see what I have here and make some decisions about how to proceed. If my palms hold up, that is. I was using needle nosed pliers to pull out the bazillion staples and my right hand is bruised and swollen now. Yeah. I guess I'm a little nuts.