Our couches are inherited from Dave’s parents, which they bought new in, wait for it… 1988(!). That’s before David or I was born. I must ask Mrs. Schultz her secret of how three boys were raised in their home and these same sofas remained in like-new condition.

They’re comfy, good quality, and don’t scream ’80s, which makes us fortunate to have got them for free. But, my wheels have been turning on how to bring a little newness to them.

They had tiny brown stub-like feet. (Like Mr. Tumnus, probably). But, I spotted some more substantial and ornate ones at Home Depot for $9. With eight feet for the couch and love seat, it’s a $72 upgrade.

David swapped the old screws into the new feet to give them a secure fit. Wrapping painters tape around the screws before going at it with the pliers helps preserve the threads.

Yay! They fit! This will be do-able! We sanded, stained, and polyurethaned.

The first stain we used was Minwax’s Provincial, which is the same stuff we used for our coffee table project, but it ended up way darker on the feet. We jumped ship and went several shades lighter with Early American. Because the feet are a very smooth pine, the finished look is nearly the same as the Provincial on the coffee table.