Formal living room sofa update

Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but when we first bought our house I recklessly brought a formal living room sofa without thinking. At that moment, I didn't know much about interior decorating and I didn't really have an idea of how I wanted to decorate our home. The only real house that I've been exposed to were my mother in laws house. They have a big house and decorated with french/antique furniture so thats all I really knew. I tried to mimic their formal living room since I thought formal meant grand. Long story short, I ended up purchasing this sofa: link

Heres the actual picture from Acme furniture. I really got sold on the sofa because it was featured on the main page of the furniture book. See how bright the cushions are? 

Over time as I started to really decorate our home, I began to dislike the french/antique look. It was too traditional and old fashioned for me. I also hated the bright colored cushions. They almost look orange in real life. The sofa is made of good quality construction but it really didn't fit my home. After debating for a very long time to sell it or try to fix it myself, I couldn't bear selling it at such a great loss. 

A few days ago I posted about getting a really great deal on fabric at Joanns. I came across some dark brown, thick chenille upholstery fabric for $4.50 a yard. I grabbed four yards to refinish my orange sofa cushions. I strictly followed these instructions from here. I got great results and instructions were very easy to follow. 

Here are the after pictures of my sofa after my simple $20 makeover: 

The sofa still doesn't look as modern as I want it but it is located in our formal living room so I plan to keep it for now. Its looking much better with darker cushions and blends in well with the rest of my formal dining room. I think once I give my pillows a makeover and add a white/light colored coffee table in front then the formal living space will perk up.  Finding the right color/combination for the pillows will make a big difference.

Heres a before and after for comparison: 

When decorating our home, I noticed the little details make the biggest difference. When we have guests over, they might not notice all the details of our home but they can tell we have made updates to our home. I always try to make affordable updates one little step at at time. I always tell myself, a little change is better then no change at all. Over time these little changes will add up to make our home feel much more polished and complete. So readers, make it a goal this weekend to update one little thing at your house. It could be creating more storage using baskets, updating your door knobs, or refinishing a big piece of furniture. DIY doesn't always have to cost a lot of money. Ten or twenty dollars can go a long way.