Reupholstering My Outdoor Sofas with Sunbrella
If you can believe this — though I’m no stranger to a DIY project around the house — I’ve actually never reupholstered anything! Given that spending time at home makes you reevaluate every inch of your decor (which I’m always doing anyway!) and being quarantined gives many of us the itch to do something creative, now seemed like the perfect time to give it a go. And immediately I knew exactly what pieces needed a little makeover: our outdoor sofas.
Our backyard is such a labor of love. We have fantastic weather all year round in Los Angeles so we spend a lot of time outside. What I love most about the space is that we created multiple areas to wander. We have the covered patio, the upper lounge space, a grassy area for our pups to play or for our friends to toss some cornhole, a succulent garden along with a backdrop of lush drought-tolerant plants. The backyard is an extension of our home and since we’ve been using ours as our primary socializing spot, the furniture pieces we use here need to be able to handle the extra quality time they’re getting lately — which is where Sunbrella fabrics come into play.
As a Sunbrella partner, I was psyched to try their super resilient, perfect-for-patios fabrics on our grey and white outdoor sofas. When they sent over some samples, I was immediately blown away by the quality. For one thing, it’s so soft! When you think of outdoor-friendly fabrics that are designed for durability, you don’t typically expect them to feel this good. Besides that, I learned that Sunbrella doesn’t rely on just a finish to make it so high-functioning, it’s actually built into the core of the fabric. Because of that, the fabric will also last a lot longer and still look great over time. The fabrics also happen to be UV-resistant, so I don’t have to worry about them fading, which is so important in a year-round sunny city like LA. Plus, they’re also so easy to clean if we happen to accidentally splash some sriracha or soy sauce on the sofa. Just saying!
Deciding to redesign with Sunbrella was easy, but choosing a fabric was a challenge, since everything they sent over was so beautiful! However, I had a vision in mind. If you know me, you know grey isn’t exactly the shade I’m known for using for decor! Don’t get me wrong, a good neutral here can hit the spot, but I usually gravitate more towards patterns and saturated hues, like greens and citrusy colors. For the patio makeover I was really inspired by the colors from our palo verde. I love the yellow flowers it produces and it’s planted right next to the upper deck. So I decided that this was the direction I was gonna go with for choosing fabrics for the sofa and pillows.
Another thing about Sunbrella that totally impressed me was the sustainability factor. Not only is buying Sunbrella less wasteful than going with a lesser quality fabric that you’ll inevitably have to replace over time, but they also use a solution-dye process — which reduces wastewater — and the brand even started the Sunbrella Renaissance program, which turns excess material from the manufacturing process into a completely new fabric.
With all that in mind, as soon as I saw the Perception fabric, I was in love. It has a really interesting pattern so I decided to go with the Perception Treetop color for the sofa in the upper area and the Perception Glow for the covered patio sofas. I sent the cushions and fabric to a local reupholstery shop and also had them make me some pillow covers. For the pillow covers I picked Essential Spark, Essential Lime and Cast Citrus. After I got everything back and saw the revamped pieces in the space, I knew the mini makeover was a total success! I love love love how the sofa in our upper deck turned out.
But....yes, there’s a but as always with any design project. Just like paint, you never know how things will turn out until the finished product. I kinda wish I had chosen Perception Spark instead for our patio sofas. I was going back and forth between the spark and glow and I totally second guessed myself at the last minute and went with something more soft and neutral and while it’s still pretty, I’m craving that extra pop of coral color. That would’ve looked so good! I also created seat cushions with the Perception Glow and those came out nice. It’s growing on me though. And that’s what the process of designing is like. Sometimes, you gotta just let your choices grow on you, too. Anywho, everything fits perfectly in our colorful little outdoor oasis. And thank goodness cause we’re gonna be here for a while!
