12 Clever Ways to Make an Old Sofa Look Like New

Of all the furniture in your living room, a sofa typically draws the most attention: It's likely your family's go-to spot for streaming binges, afternoon reading sessions, and weekend naps. Whether your current couch is showing its age or you've inherited a secondhand piece that needs some attention, refreshing your sofa with these easy fixes can improve the look and atmosphere of your entire space.

Deep Clean It

You may be surprised at how quickly a deep clean can turn a dingy sofa into prime seating. "You can [usually] zip off removable cushion covers and put them in the washing machine," says Marla Mock, the president of Molly Maid. "Wash them with hot water, then dry them in the sun. It's important not to dry upholstery fabrics in the dryer with high heat, as it might shrink the fabric."

If your covers aren't removable, start by clearing crumbs and dust from your sofa with a stiff brush. Then sprinkle the upholstery with baking soda and let it sit for about 20 minutes before vacuuming with the brush attachment.

Sofas that can be cleaned with water will have a W or WS on their care tag; an X indicates vacuum only, and an S requires dry cleaner detergent, says Mock. Tackle stains on water-approved couches with a homemade cleaner made of 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, and 1 cup of warm water, suggests Mock. "Next, add 1 teaspoon baking soda and quickly screw the top onto the spray bottle," she says. "Beware that baking soda and vinegar will create a lot of bubbles when combined!" Put the solution on a white cloth and dab at stains, or wipe the entire couch.

Remove Odors

Sprinkling baking soda all over the couch, including on the seatback, and scrubbing the dry powder into the fabric with a brush is Mock's first recommendation for removing odors. "It’s best to let this sit for a few hours in the sun," she says. "Then, vacuum the baking soda off the couch."

Another option: Replace the baking soda with a spray bottle filled from your home bar. "You can also pour some vodka into a spray bottle and liberally moisten the upholstery," says Mock. "Allow it to dry outside in the sun and thoroughly vacuum after it dries."

A truly gross couch may require a deeper clean and refresh. "If you really want your couch to shine like new, rent a steam cleaner to really penetrate the upholstery and clean deep down," says Mock. "The heat from the steam helps remove stains and kills bacteria."

Fix a Sagging Sofa

If too many movie marathons have left your sofa sagging in the middle, you may need to have the springs completely repaired. But a quicker fix for gentle sagging is to custom-cut an insert of 1/4-inch-thick MDF or plywood to sit on the decking fabric underneath the cushions, says Richard Herzog of Herzog Upholstery in Paoli, Pa. "That's a very cheap and effective way to get rid of the sag," he says. "If you want to go one step further, cover the board with fabric before you put it in." This will camouflage the board if your cushions shift, and reduce wear on the underside of your cushions as they rub on textiles instead of wood.

Fix Flat Cushions

Replace the foam in flattened seat cushions with new foam from a local upholsterer or upholstery supply store, says Herzog. Look for sheets of medium-density foam, often the most comfortable for seating, which you'll cut to fit your cushion covers.

Remove your current cushion from its cover, and turn the cover inside out to create a template for your new piece of foam. Herzog recommends using an electric meat knife to cut the cushion 1/2-inch larger than the template; this will give you a more polished finished look. Professionals add a one-inch-thick wrap of bonded Dacron polyester around the foam for additional comfort and a better "crown." "It's a little extra work, but it's worth it," Herzog says.

Seatback cushions are sometimes filled with loose polyester fiber fill, which is too soft to support the seated weight of people on the couch but can provide a pillowy back. If you need to repair these cushions, Herzog recommends sewing a bag to fit the inside dimensions of your cushion and filling that with down, feathers, or Dacron. "Usually the bag is channeled so the fill doesn't all fall to the bottom," he says. Real down is the best choice: "Soft, downy material is what gives you the resilience so the cushion pops back up," he says.

Sew Small Tears

Small tears in upholstery fabric can be fixed with a curved needle—Herzog recommends a 2-inch-long version—and sewing machine thread designed for fine stitching. After you finish joining the two sides of the tear, make your knot as close to the repair as you can, push your needle under the repair, and pull it several times until you hear the knot secure itself through the fabric to the interior of the cushion, he says.

Larger rips are harder to address without extra fabric. Herzog recommends checking the underside of your sofa or the inside of the cushion covers for excess that wasn't trimmed during production; you can use this additional fabric to patch larger holes.

He has also worked with designers to add custom patches of vintage fabric to upholstered pieces, making the damaged areas into a focal point (inspired, he says, by the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi and the art of kintsugi). This takes careful planning, though. "You can't just stick one different color fabric on top of an arm," he says. "You have to do it in a few different places, add some colors, and do it right—if you have the eye, and the time, and a little bit of sewing skill."

Make a Slipcover

While you can hire a professional to make slipcovers or buy elastic versions online, you can also DIY your own. Herzog recommends choosing a solid color, which is more forgiving than a print you have to match, and pinning pieces of the fabric cut to fit each section of the couch together inside out.

"Pin it all, pull it off, sew it up, and it should fit right over the sofa," he says. "We follow the line of the upholstery but you don't have to do that—it could be as simple as a grill cover." You can wrap seat cushions individually or lay the fabric over the entire piece, cushions included, and tuck the loose parts of the finished cover into the seams around the seats, arms, and back.

Condition the Leather

To clean a leather sofa, Mock recommends vacuuming "all those nooks and crannies" to remove crumbs, loose dirt, and dust. Then wipe the couch with a dry microfiber cloth, or with a cloth dampened (not soaked) in a solution made with equal parts water and white vinegar, then dry the couch with a clean cloth. If your leather has been stained with water, says Mock, "This requires you to blend the stain with the surrounding area. You can do so by dampening a soft white cloth with water and wiping outward from the center of the stain. Be gentle as you wipe and use drier areas of the cloth as you work outward to blend the stain."

Old, dried-out leather can be brought back to life with shoe polish and wax. "If there's a hole in it, there's not much you can do," says Herzog. "But if it's just dry and cracked, mink oil or kiwi shoe polish will make the leather more supple and put the moisture back in it. They actually look better than when they were first made, because of all that patina they have."

Clean Up the Frame

If your sofa has an exposed wooden frame, give it some attention to improve the overall look of the piece. A little paint thinner will help you clean off years of dirt and dust, and then you can refinish it however you choose: "Antique it, whitewash it, or paint it a color," says Herzog. "We have a lot of luck with colored waxes."

One caution, he says: If you can't completely remove the cushions, tape off and cover any upholstery; then use a small brush and delicate movements to paint the frame without touching the fabric.

Remove a Skirt

Removing a sofa's floor-length skirt can create a crisper, more modern look (and expose the feet, which you may also want to change). Most factory-made skirts are stapled on, says Herzog, but you can use a remover tool to take out the staples; if you're working with a "forgiving fabric," you might not even be able to see the holes left by the staples. If you can see evidence of previous stapling, a two-inch-wide piece of decorative trim tape will often hide them, says Herzog.

Clean or Change the Feet

The legs or feet of a sofa typically need a thorough cleaning, says Mock. "You can simply use a mild dish soap, water, and sponge to wipe down the surface," she says. "Be sure to use as little water as possible when cleaning wood. To bring back the shine, opt for a polish made for the type of finish on your wood."

You can also change out the sofa feet entirely to give your piece a new look, swapping chunky squares for slim mid-century legs (or vice versa). If the current legs don't unscrew, you can saw them off to make room to install new ones, says Herzog.

Add Buttons

Adding a tufted-look button detail to cushions or harder seatbacks requires some planning—you want to make sure your final design is evenly spaced and carefully thought out, says Herzog—but isn't overly complicated. If you can't find covered buttons that match your current sofa, a local upholster should be able to use buttons and fabric you provide to cover them for you for about $10, he says.

If you're adding buttons to a cushion, you'll need enough for both sides. Put a long piece of twine through the hook on the back of one button, pull both ends of the twine through eye of a straight, 12-inch-long needle, and pull the twine through the entire cushion, says Herzog. Then secure a second button with the other end of the twine (the buttons will pull each other to pucker the fabric).

To add buttons to the back of a sofa, Herzog says you'll need a tool called a button injector, which gives the button something to connect to inside the cushion. "[Adding buttons] isn't hard to do," he says. "You just have to take your time. It might take a couple of hours, but it will definitely change the look of your piece."

Install Nailhead Trim

Adding nailhead trim (those often-gold metal darts that frame couches and dining room chairs) to a sofa is another easy way to make a big impact with an older piece. "You can always add decorative nails in any pattern you want, as long as there's wood there," says Herzog. "Just tap them in carefully." He typically opts for nailheads that are 9/16- or 1/2-inch in diameter. "They're relatively small, but in a line or pattern, they look terrific," he says.