My sectional custom made by Barclay Furniture, upholstered in Knoll Rivington Palm, was delivered yesterday. I’m still in sneak peek mode on my Mahalo Lounge, so here’s a sneak. I’m pretty over the moon. The sectional is delicious and sized perfectly to my room. The fabric is gorgeous — this photo, un-retouched, does not do it justice. More to come as the room approaches the finish line!
P.S., now I need to research plastic slipcovers. I am serious. The first one who spills on this baby I Can’t Even Imagine.
UPDATE to my PS: Okay, no plastic slipcovers. I read the comments. I calmed down. Last night, though, weebit’s snack touched the sectional cushion where she was drinking a cocktail and doing some noshing while watching TV with us. All are forewarned they will risk some mom-wrath if they don’t be careful. But yes: This space is for FUN, lest I forget. Yes: Weebit is all graduated from college now and working in the big city. I want her to come home to visit as often as possible, messy and all!
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Bravo Pam!
Can you put the link where you decided on green? I found last Feb.’s orange dilemma but have spaced out the green discussion.
Pros of plastic: this is the reason we are still able to find Mid-Century furniture because Marie covered it and it was kept “for company”. You payed a pretty penny for it. You would like to keep your friends and family friends and family – not sure anyone could recover from being the first one to “oops!”
Cons: well, it’s sticky or slippery, whichever you DON’T want it to be. It looks either kind of tacky or like you just moved in. It gives the impression you don’t trust said friends and family. Hopefully that ball of energy Astro won’t try digging the plastic like our goofy cats (they don’t extend their claws, they just LOVE that smooth feeling on their pads – cats!)
Probably in a few years you will feel you have “spent” the money invested in re-covering OR on a trip to some exotic locale will find some sort of blankets or throws (probably not an afghan BUT you never know – Mass gets chilly!) and you’ll feel a little more comfortable taking the plastic off. Or figured out who you can trust to be in the room to not spill.
At least you don’t have to worry about cigarettes – hm?!
Here you go: https://retrorenovation.com/2017/03/06/knolls-rivington-upholstery-palm-midcentury-modern-sectional/
That sectional has my name on it! Oh my goodness, the fabric is perfect and gorgeous! Congratulations to you Pam, you deserve every bit of this “deliciousness”.
Nice! Scotchguard!
The couch I just bought had been covered in plastic for years and smells musty. It’s been hard to get that smell out, even though I’ve cleaned it multiple times and used extra strength Febreeze. I wondered if moisture gets trapped under those plastic slipcovers and that’s what causes the mustiness, especially in the summertime. I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s a thought.
If there is some way you can set it out in the sun on a bright hot dry day, I think a lot of that odor would bake out. I have done this successfully with fabric and upholstery.
Have you tried setting the couch outside in the sun? It often works wonders with mustiness. I’ve done it with old books and been happily surprised.
There is a product called ‘Kids ‘N’ Pets’ walmart sells it, it is guaranteed to permanently remove urine odors.
I have used it, it does just that.
It is an all purpose stain & odor remover.
Sorry to say, Save your money, Febreeze isn’t going to stop mildew. It doesn’t get rid of the cause of odor, it just encases the molecules (perspiration for example) of odors with a donut-shaped carbohydrate molecule so your receptors for smell cannot pick up the odor. Some Febreeze just covers the smell with it’s own smell so by the time the offensive smell has left on its own (burned food, bathroom odor), you smell the fragrance and when that is gone, the offending odor is long gone anyway; don’t get fooled by the ads. Mold is an entirely different thing, Mold is a living organism that grows roots, eats and eliminates and reproduces. Even if you can wipe it all off, the roots will cause it to re-grow if conditions are right. As long as it has a friendly environment with organic material to eat, moisture and the correct temperature range, it will keep repopulating. Your couch may have been stored in a basement for a while and picked up that dampness and succumbed to mold spores omnipresent in the cool damp air, had the right temperature range and plenty of organic material since a couch is almost all organic material. All that caused mildew spores to populate the couch. I have found mildew impossible to eradicate completely when it is buried inside the cells of the item. There are products out there called sporicidins (nasty stuff) you can spray through a fumigator that kills hard to reach spores, like in air ducts. To keep it from reappearing from it’s deeply buried roots, all the mold surfaces need to be sealed. Even using bleach, the roots in the mold will grow new fungus. It is one thing to have mold on a flat surface like a countertop, that can be more easily treated and sealed. It will be difficult, even impossible to cure in a couch since the mildew runs very deep into every cell. The sun can help somewhat for the visible surfaces but you cannot get the sunshine inside the sofa and mold spores just keep reproducing no matter how much sunshine or Febreeze is used. I bought a lovely piano at one time that unbeknownst to me was most likely stored in a basement. I tried everything and it still smelled musty. I would sneeze and my face would get puffy going into the room the piano lived in. I figured my health was more important than the piano and got rid of it. It was shooting those mold spores into that room and into the air ducts and into the rest of the house and there was no way to stop it.
Thank you for that detailed explanation. I learned a lot and I’m very glad to be living in bone dry Calgary where mold is not much of an issue.
Plastic slipcovers??? You’re kidding, right? That is one of the coolest sofas I’ve ever seen. Pam, invite your friends over and party away and I’ll bet you won’t have any spills that wouldn’t clean right up. Probably no spills period – we’re not talking teen-agers here but responsible adults. Furthermore, you’re not going to be serving RED WINE in a Tiki Bar (that’s the worst).. Most Tiki drinks are probably more sticky than staining! Have a good upholstery cleaner’s number handy and enjoy your sofa and don’t you dare cover it in plastic. Awesome sofa. Won’t be awesome under plastic….. 🙂
Get that slipcover on it fast !!!! – that really turned out super Pam – congrats & enjoy !!!
Oh dear! You had with me with you every step of the way, right up until the plastic slip covers. Your new sofa is fabulous but never make your dry goods more important than the people in your life. Spills happen, it’s called living.
Product that removes all kinds of odors even cigarette smoke…I kid you not…Smells Be Gone! I bought my last bottle at Bed Bath and Beyond.
Noooo…..don’t cover it, enjoy it….. the colors, the texture, the feel….you may just have to clean the drool….stunning piece, but what’s the point of having something beautiful if it’s not enjoyed to the fullest?
I pretty much agree with the consensus, re: plastic covers. BUT playing devils advocate, if you could find “breathable” clear covers that mitigated the potential of a musty smell, clear covers, at least for the first year of so as you break it in, would def mimic the era you are “recreating”; I mean who of a certain age doesn’t recall that kids were NOT allowed into the formal living rooms saved for grownup guests! Both the carpeting and the furniture often had plastic “the-wonder-material” covers! Stuffy but fun, in the retro sense! Gorgeous sectional, BTW!!
Rise – oh I forgot about those plastic carpet runners with the pokey things on the underside to prevent it from shifting!
Hey you guys, How about a leopard throw?!?! I have one on my barkcloth covered sofa.
I’m so glad I read until the PS. It saved me a rant about the plastic slip cover idea. The sofa is stunning! Enjoy it. And should “oops” happen, there are many cleaning options available. As someone else said (again, saving me the rant), it’s furniture. People and living are way more important. Can’t wait to see the reveal.
Everyone with pets, kids, tipsy friends, etc, plus wonderful things like upholstery and rugs or carpet, vintage or not, should invest in their own steam cleaner. Ours has saved us so so so many times. We have a WHITE wool rug in our living room, lots of reupholstered vintage furniture, two cats, two dogs, and 3 kids. Seriously we use it 2-3 times/month.
It’s beautiful!!! but we’ll just have to call you Marie Romano, she of the plastic slipcovers. Two items not meant for plastic covers are upholstery and case goods, creates moisture issues. I protect my furniture from not only the cat but myself with a quilted pet protector for the couch and sheets for the chairs. You can buy the quilted material by the yard or just buy some nice throws. That sectional sure is sharp looking and I can appreciate you wanting to keep it looking its best.
Hi, Pam,
I have to agree with those who recommend you think twice about those plastic slipcovers. The fabulous texture of that upholstery is meant to be touched and caressed. And Scotchgard is a wonderful thing!
OMG! Beautiful! As for plastic slipcovers- many, many years ago when I first started dating my husband and went to his house for the first time, they had plastic slipcovers. I had seen them advertised, but never in person. You would either stick to them or slide, depending on what you were wearing. Not a fan. That being said, the sofa underneath still looked like new many years later!
Thank you so much for the idea! I’ll give that a try! It does smell a little better now just by sitting in a room with the windows open a lot, but it’s still somewhat musty. Thank you!
Oh my. I am actually feeling nervous butterflies in my stomach to see the final unveiling. Ha! This is going to be so delicious…the sneak peeks are heavenly in and of themselves.