I wanted to share how we turned a twin size Pure Echo from My Green Mattress into a couch! If you don’t already know, safe (in terms of no flame retardants), organic couches are super, super expensive. I’m a huge fan of recycling as many materials as we already have, so Hubby & I challenged ourselves to turn our old couch into a new couch, and to buy as little as possible for the project. We’ve had the mattress for several years, but my kids are both still bed-sharing in my king & I don’t see that changing any time soon, so this mattress has been largely unused. Our old couch was a hand-me-down from my Mom & we’ve had it several years. The bottom was coming off & once my Hubby tore it off there was no stopping him, he gutted the thing. He tore off all the super cheap materials (plywood, cardboard mainly, poly fill) & got it down to it’s skeleton of a frame, then built it back up again with good wood. He kept one arm of it & cut the other one off as the mattress was just a couple inches bigger than the frame.
We tore open the huge pillows that came with the old couch, removed all the poly stuffing (yuck), and washed the cases several times. I was having a hard time thinking of what to fill them with, they’re quite large. Then I was going through a bin of clothes & it was full of wool sweaters, many I hadn’t worn for years but I just can’t bring myself to get rid of them. Perfect I thought, I’ll stuff these cases with my wool sweaters. It makes for a very heavy, firm, pillow. But we’re mainly leaning on them when we’re sitting on the couch, not sleeping on them, and I find them quite comfortable, I really like them! Originally I velcroed them shut, it held awhile but then the velcro came a part, so I ended up sewing them shut, but can easily tear them a part should I decide I need one of those wool sweaters.
Next was figuring out the backing, it was all open & exposed wood. We considered finishing it in cedar which we had on hand, but then I came across a huge garbage bag full of my last sewing project I worked on during my final weeks of “nesting” while pregnant with my 1st born. I can’t sew well, but can sew a straight line. While nesting I started cutting up the old corduroys I wore in high school but I knew were never going to fit me again, and they had seen better days anyway, and had in mind a quilt as an end goal. Then my Son was born & that project has been in a garbage bag for 6 years! So we stapled it up as a backing!
I’m not using organic sheets, we haven’t gotten there yet, but when I need to buy new ones in the future they will be organic. I have 1 sheet, a twin wool puddle pad also from My Green Mattress that we got along with the mattress, and then another top sheet & handmade quilt to top it off.
So no, this isn’t entirely organic. But I’m pretty darn happy with how it turned out as a DIY project using entirely recycled/upcycled materials, we didn’t spend a dime on it. I know not all of you will like this style, some have more refined tastes for furniture & wouldn’t settle for this look in your house. But for my family, this is perfect! For those in the new couch market, I think you should consider something similar as an option! A Pure Echo is currently $719 new from My Green Mattress, Jolene, a contributing author to my page, is an affiliate & you can get 5% off even! Here’s her link: http://ss1.us/a/X8Nm5hRJ and the code is ECOSAVE5. If you are military, they offer an 8% discount (just let them know when you order). Codes cannot be combined but, they offer free shipping!
Here’s her recent review of a 9″ king size latex from them, and I purchased the same one myself in May & will be doing a review in the coming weeks: https://ecofriendlymamausa.com/2017/04/12/jolenes-my-green-mattress-review/
Eco-friendly baby/family products MADE in USA 