DIY Sectional Part 2

After building the wood couch frame, this project immediately took a turn into the “stuff I’ve never done before” category. That was exciting and scary all at once to me. On the one hand, I was diving head first into the world of upholstery with a huge project. On the other hand, I spent a lot of time researching and this was the perfect problem solving puzzle for me.

Some DIY couches are built with plywood to support the base and back where the cushions would go. As an avid couch napper, plywood just didn’t sound comfortable enough to me, even with foam on top. I decided to go with upholstery webbing which is thick straps that you make into a basket weave and staple to the couch frame. Foam cushions then go on top. I ordered rolls of webbing online, and made my own tool out of garage straps to stretch the webbing into place. I went through 360ft of webbing on this entire couch.

I definitely got into a rhythm with installing the webbing, though it was quite a workout stretching it all into place. There was a little trial and error, and I did have some pieces snap back. Thankfully I had already moved out of the way, so the webbing didn’t hit me. And of course I had to test the webbing to see if it would support me before moving on.

After webbing, I built some simple arms with 2×4’s and started wrapping all the exposed edges of the frame in 1in high density foam. I wanted the entire couch to be comfy if you bumped into it, so even the top and sides got a little foam. I used spray adhesive to attach the foam to the frame. Since I was going for maximum level of comfort here, I also got extra dense batting to go over all the 1in foam.

This was the part of the project where I started getting excited and a little emotional. After all my planning and weeks of work, this piece I had built was actually starting to look like a comfy couch! I believe fully with DIY that sometimes you just have to jump in with a project, even if you’re scared or it’s totally new to you. As a very kinesthetic learner, the best way to grow is to jump in and try. Though getting to this stage in the couch build had a lot of trial and error, I gained so much experience & confidence from it.

In part 3 this couch gets assembled, & I’ll share about my little project injury. Stay tuned.