If your couch is looking sad, there’s no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a brand new one (unless, of course, you’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a new couch). For about $50 and some elbow grease, you can make your sofa look brand new again by restuffing its cushions. Stuffed cushions will bring life back into your couch and give your living room a facelift without breaking the bank.

You’ll need to purchase brand new couch cushion covers and consider reupholstering your couch if you’re going for a whole new color scheme in your space. Otherwise, you can remove your cushions from their covers, restuff them so they look nice and plump, and put everything back together again. The whole process is suitable for a beginner DIYer and it only takes a few hours.

Before You Begin

Get up close and personal with your couch before you begin. Inspect it to make sure the foam in the seat cushions is removable and that there are access points to get into all your cushions (each cushion often has a zipper). If there aren’t any, you won’t be able to restuff your couch.

What You’ll Need

Equipment / Tools

• Spray adhesive
• Couch cushions

Materials

• 10 lbs poly-fil
• 8 yards quilt batting

Instructions

1. Remove Back CushionsRemove the cushions, including the covers, on the back of your couch. While the cushions are off, you can use this opportunity to clean the inside of your couch. You could even wash the cushions and covers for a true refresh.
   
   Set your cushions aside in an empty workspace, like your patio or clean living room floor, to allow yourself plenty of room to work. Try to keep your workspace free of dirt and debris as much as possible to avoid getting dirt in your cushions while you’re stuffing them.
   
2. Stuff Back Cushions With Poly-filDig into your bag of Poly-fil and grab a huge handful. Begin shoving handfuls of the Poly-fil inside your cushion until you can’t fit anymore. Don’t be afraid of overstuffing it.Make sure to get into every nook and cranny in the cushion. If you’re having trouble, use a long tool or stick to help you gently push the Poly-fil into hard-to-reach spots. You can also use it to smooth everything out afterwards to get your cushion into a nice, smooth shape.Your stuffed cushion should look very plump and almost overstuffed when you’re done. Don’t worry, the Poly-fil will settle after a few weeks of use.
   
3. Remove Seat CushionsOnce you have stuffed all of your couch’s back cushions, it’s time to move on to the seat cushions. Unlike the back cushions, the seat cushions will not need to be filled with Poly-fil because they are generally more flat and less fluffy.
   
   Most couch seat cushions are made up of a piece of foam stuffed inside a fabric cover. Remove the foam from the cushion cover to begin restuffing it.
   
4. Wrap Internal Foam With BattingTake your roll of quilt batting and unravel it a few times. Lay a piece of foam from a seat cushion onto the batting and wrap it up like an envelope. Continue wrapping the batting around it (about three layers is usually good, but you may need more depending on how saggy the foam is). Use your spray adhesive to help the batting stick to the foam.
   
5. Stuff Seat Cushions Back Into CoversYou may need a few helping hands for this part, so enlist a friend or family member for this step if you can. Stuff all of your newly-stuffed seat cushions back into their covers. Now that you’ve wrapped the foam in batting, they are probably much bigger than they were before. That means it may take some finagling to get them to fit snug in their cushions. Remember that you’re looking for a tight fit, so don’t worry if putting the covers back on is difficult. It will take some elbow grease.
   
6. Replace All CushionsAfter all of these steps, your couch cushions should be looking plump and comfy, just like they did when you first purchased them. You can place the cushions back onto your couch at this point. They’ll fit tightly, but that’s the look you’re going for. Say goodbye to your old, sagging couch and hello to your comfortable, good-as-new one. And if it looks too plump, give the filling a few weeks to fully settle in before you judge your work too harshly.