apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you reupolstered it in a nice bold color it would look great in your modern living room. When people go for the showroom look with all the furniture being of a certain style, things get boring quickly. Your piece will add interest to your living room. I say reupolster it in a primary color and enjoy it!

To be honest, I think that old Victorian love seat is better than the black leather overgrown La-Z Boy number you posted. Granted, they are both kinda icky, but at least the Victorian has the potential to be repurposed into something that fits in with the brocade trend. I would paint the Victorian love seat white and reupholster it in a very mod fabric with bright, bold colors. I would then mix-n-match it with other brocade-ish pieces as well as some midcentury mod.

Yes indeed! May I suggest you taking a look at the Mansion on Forsyth park in Savannah Georgia. Clicking through the photo gallery you will notice in the Casmir's lounge the companion chairs to your love seat. In the context of this room they have become not only modern but sexy art pieces. The whole hotel it self serves as a great example of mixing old and new together to create a classic modern that will always have style!

http://www.mansiononforsythpark.com/photo_gallery/photo_gallery.asp

It would look like a very unique piece of furniture if you reupolster the love seat with a solid neutral color. It may not turn out to be a modern piece but would look great when you mix it up in a modern living or bedroom.

Pick up any issue of Domino and you'll see one of those reupholstered in some bold fabric and it becomes the centerpiece of the room. I say go for it! And paint the wood white or high gloss black while you're at it.

There's a designer by the name of Ruthie Sommers who excels are making these kinds of pieces over. Check out her gallery for inspiration: there's a couch just like it recovered in a bright fuschia and black zigzag patterned fabric. http://chapmanradcliffhome.com/storeGallery.html

You could do wonderful things with that loveseat. I'd vote white paint and fun fabric, but I doubt it would ever really mesh well with the steel and black leather you posted.

I think your Victorian couch would look really good re-upholstered in white and the dark wood left as it is.

http://www.hableconstruction.com/shop/interiordesign.php
i love the hable fabrics....i would first choose a print , and then paint the wood a bright, glossy color that worked with the print.

i'm not a fan of your "modern" choice either, below is an inexpensive, convertible sofa:
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product.do?method=get&id=964403&coll=4197370&cat=47

pillows with bright Hable prints could tie both together...

I'd keep the trim as is; reupolster it in bright, bold fabric; add two sassy, small throw pillows.

I have to agree with those that said go for bold. I think a high gloss white on the wood, with a bold color or pattern would look amazing. Perhaps white & neon orange.

Bleach the wood - don't paint it white. The painted white look is on it's way out. Upholster with a colourful modern pattern, or just use a pale canvas or linen. It will look great in a modern space. For more ideas on reupholstered furniture made to look modern, visit designsponge. There are so many examples on that site:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/04/before-and-after-chair-love.html

Design*Sponge has had a bunch of this type of reupholstery recently, such as the following example:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/03/chairloom-2.html

There was another incredible one recently (prob. in March) that I can't find at the moment.

Also, there's tons of examples of this type of thing in design magazines that will make you swoon.

i think any kind of puffy, new leather furniture takes a style genius to pull off well, and most especially black leather. black leather is an austere option, when you choose 'comfortable' furniture in black leather, it looks like you are a young man with some $$ buying furniture for his bachelor pad.

to work with your great love seat, i would either go for more tailored leather furniture or choose the puffy leather in brown, if that's possible.

agree with everyone else about the bold, bright, modern reupholstery, patterned if you like pattern, but think that with the furniture you envision you should paint the wood a bright, high-gloss color that goes with your upholstery. the usual Domino-magazine/ Marcel Wanders look is to paint the wood white or black but ... neither will really blend with the leather and steel furniture. by making more of a departure, it may 'work' better.

also like the upholstered in white and leave the wood alone option, if you're more minimally minded.

I agree that this is a great piece of furniture, but you really need to do something about that upholstery! It depends how much you want to spend on it. If you want to do it cheaply, maybe you could just put a slipcover over it until you've got the money to do it properly - there's some loveseat slipcovers at http://www.getslipcovers.com/loveseat_slipcovers.html that look like they might be OK. Failing that, if I were you I'd shop around and get some upholstery prices from someone local, and check out their previous work if you can for inspiration. If it's done right I don't see why it couldn't look great with your modern furniture.

P.S. When you bleach the wood (depending on the type of wood) it should turn bone white, but you will still see the grain.

What's with always reverting to gloss white?
I'd go with a deep, rich brown on the wood, and mint or orange peel colored upholstery.

I agree with the other comments about a bold reupholstery option, but I question your other pieces, the oversized black leather ones. If you're committed to working with the loveseat [which I think would be great!], then choose more streamlined, simple pieces to complement it. I would focus on some rectilinear seating to counter the curves of the loveseat.

It's great to mix it up, to soften a room if you don't want it to be ultra-modern. Especially if you can twist your pieces a bit.

I would *love* to have that sofa. How about white woodwork and a bold miami all-over floral? or all solid white with periwinkle bolsters? Or black woodwork and black fabric? or White woodwork and black fabric? Or black woodwork and a solid gray suiting fabric? Or or or... Really, it could be a lot of fun.

The loveseat will absolutely work with modern furniture. As many others have said just get it reupholstered in a more contemporary fabric. But, please don't alter the wood frame - it is what gives the piece character and a nod to its age.

I'm going to agree with RJD. Leave the wood alone, and reupholster the seat in white (high quality Ultrasuede, leather, or even bleached canvas). Painting the wood white, neon, etc, will place it in the neo-baroque/rococo movement (a la the above mentioned Mansion at Forsyth Park, et al) that was popular earlier this decade and is already starting to look dated. If you want to create something timeless, keep it simple and clean, don't fuss it up with bright fabric, accent it with some trendy throw pillows (which are cheap and easy to replace when the trends shift), otherwise you will end up with a love seat that screams 2004 — permanently. You could even have the upholstery tufted (the buttons on the seat back) to coordinate with your black leather number. Bringing in similarly styled objet d'art or accessories (an ornate lamp, painting, sculpture, or mirror) will tie the style with the room, so the love seat won't stand out.

love the love seat -- it has loads of design potential that your idea for a leather sofa doesn't...

Here are some traditional beds that have been re-upholstered to give you an idea of the possibilities:

http://www.au-lit.org/

Personally, depending on the upholstery you went with of course, I really like the idea of lacquering the wood black -- might look great with blue velvet or a print with lots of black in it.

A place with great upholstery fabrics to inspire you is Designers Guild:

http://www.designersguild.com/fabric-and-wallpaper/

flocked velvets would especially suit the vintage and style of your love seat.

Modern furniture would look great with your love seat; look for really well-designed pieces with clean minimal lines (think Saarinen).

I'm in the leave the wood alone camp.

I think it would look good in slubby linen or dupioni fabric in a creamy white (check out Sunbrella fabrics for something durable). It would go well in an "organic modern" interior (whatever that is).

I'm not sure if your black sofas are a good match for the inherited piece, though.

Thanks so much for all of your comments to my question. I would love to re-cover the loveseat in a bold color/pattern fabric. I love pinks, so I think a bright pink will work for me. As for the wood, I would like to keep it the way it is, but I'll have to see how it looks with my fabric choice.

Secondly, everyone seems to have a problem with my 'mod' sofa. To be honest, I couldn't find the right picture. Below is a link to the apt sofa that I'm in love with. I love the white leather.

http://www.apt-ny.com/details.cfm?uid=apt-071013111012&browse=Sofa%20Bed

I'd paint the frame black and upholster the piece in a Royal Purple Velvet - then it would look stunning

Pink will look great with the wood. Please show us the after.

by all means !!! add it to your modern furniture. i have a couch and three chairs antiques that i reupholstered in a solid chocolate and they go really good with all the modern surroundings. go for it, and to reupholster it is really easy , just follow the present upholstery.
antonietta

Definitely, that sofa is great! Once you lose the chinzy fabric, its going to look stunning in any environment!

http://www.hableconstruction.com/shop/interiordesign.php

big beads in TAHITI is a bright pink print, and would be an interesting mix with the loveseat's dark wood frame.

pink and white, antique and modern is a great look, and loads of fun to put together!

...and designers guild has great pinks -- you can search their fabrics by colour, just specify the colour on the fight hand side of this page:

http://www.designersguild.com/all-collections/?page=1

Paint it gloss black, or gloss red, upholster it in solid color velvet - white, black, or red. Add pieces that are a little more classic than the one you posted.

A pair of Eames plywood side chairs will bring in some more flowing shapes to match, a Wassily chair will bring in some more straight lines to contrast. Anchor them all with a modern rug, and some good artwork. The key, when bringing in pieces like the Victorian one above, is to make each object strong enough to stand on its own, and remove as much else as possible. The crazy shape of the couch could easily get lost if you bring in something contemporary, but not classic modern.

I completely agree with RJD. Leave the wood alone and reupholster in white or a natural canvas. NOT pink.

I'm glad virtually everyone told you the Victorian piece will work in an otherwise modern room. I totally agree; I think the one "different" object will make the room better because it will stand out and give the place some character and history, rather than the total anonymity of all new, all the same, boring, store-bought. You're lucky to have such a terrific piece, with all those lavish, voluptuous curves!

Undoubtedly many looks would work well (see above -- tons of great ideas, people!), and ultimately what works best for you will come down to personal preference. You like wood, you go for wood (I agree on that). You like pink upholstery, you go for pink upholstery. I can imagine it looking scrumptious in pink, especially if everything else is leather; that would just be fabulous (add some pink touches elsewhere in the room). Be sure to show us what you decide!

You could reupholster the sofa with a more contempory fabric, which would update it a bit. Maybe something unexpected, like a bright, mod color, or something subtle and simple with texture. Just keep away from grandma type fabrics. It will look really nice with your modern pieces.

a well made piece of furniture is always pretty timeless and elegant :) pink silk will look wonderful on your sofa! can't wait to see pix of the makeover