When you feel like your living room can use a bit of renovating but you are on a tight budget, there are some things you can do yourself to spruce up the place. Reupholstering a couch is a great way to do this while saving money. After all, no matter how old your couch looks, new upholstery will have it looking like brand new in no time at all, and at very little cost. Also, knowing how to reupholster a couch means that you can actually buy used furniture and reupholstering them to fit the design you want. For this project, you will need fabric, pins, scissors, a staple gun, a tack hammer, pliers, measuring tape, sewing machine, pencil, needles, and matching thread.

Step 1. The first thing you need to do is to make measurements of the couch in all directions. Make measurements of all dimensions you need to cover; this lets you know how many yards of fabric you will need. While you make the measurements, think about the color scheme you want the room to have.

Step 2. Place the couch in a room where will not mind making a mess in. Using pliers, carefully remove the old fabric on the couch, being sure not to rip it off. The pieces need to be left impact, as you will need it to form the pattern for your new fabric. When the fabric is removed, check the padding: if the padding is already worn off, you can add quilt batting to soften them some more. Also confirm that the frame or springs are not damaged.

Step 3. When you go to shop for the fabric, bring something of the color you want to have as a guide. Typically, upholstery fabric should be one that stands up well to wear and tear, although any fabric can actually work; just make sure you pick a durable kind, and in a design that is easy to match. This means that complicated patterns may be more difficult to complement. Make sure you buy one or two yards over what you measured to give room for mistakes. Also think about whether you want matching cushions; in that case, buy extra fabric for the cushions.

Step 4. Lay the new fabric out, and pin the old fabric on top of it; trace the pattern of the old pieces onto the underside of the new fabric. Cut out the new pattern, matching the size and shape of the old pieces.

Step 5. Put the new, cut pieces of fabric onto the correct position on the couch to reassemble. Use the staple gun to attach the fabric to the couch frame, making sure you do so in the same way that that old pieces had been attached. A tack hammer can help to secure the fabric in place. As you do this, be sure to stretch the fabric so you can get a nice, tight fit, keeping wrinkles to a minimum. This will make your couch look professionally upholstered. As an additional task, you can also sew covers for cushions to make them match using the same fabric, sewing three sides and adding a zipper for the fourth side.