Reupholstered Things

My current love of reupholstering things came out of desperation. I had an arm chair that was so comfortable and well made, and was my favorite chair to sit and drink coffee in or curl up with a good book and sink in. But the fabric had become faded and worn, and wasn't my style at all anymore. So at first I looked around for a local company that had reupholstering services. In our small community this was hard to find! And when I finally found one in the next city over, the prices made my jaw drop. My chair was outdated, but for that kind of money I could live with it! But over time my creative mind kept thinking that maybe I could learn how to reupholster myself. I had already refurbished numerous pieces of wood furniture with good success, so why not an upholstered chair? But I needed to learn, and for me I learn best by doing. So I first watched some tutorials about reupholstering, and then set my sites on Craigslist (this was back before the days of online social media sites like Facebook Marketplace or local online yard sales) for a cheap chair to experiment on.

I soon found the perfect project. It was the ugliest, most sad looking armchair you've ever seen! And when I picked it up I realized it was worse than I thought. It reeked! It smelled like a bad combination of Chinese food and wet dog. And it didn't have any legs; just a frame that sat on the floor, with it's skirt bunching up on the ground. It was perfect! I couldn't make it any worse than it was if I tried! So my adventure with reupholstering began, and I was soon hooked. I loved pulling off the stinky dirty fabric and discovering the wood frame underneath. It had great bones. The chair was strong and well made, it just needed some loving, thoughtful attention. And some fun fabric. Since this was just a trial, I bought fabric that was on clearance and got a great deal, and I happened to like the purple geometric pattern. It also helped me learn to line up patterns and shapes, and be mindful of where they would land on the finished chair. As I was creating this new project my thought was that I would sell it and recoup my investment (even though it was quite small). But once it was finished I loved it, and ended up putting it in my office at work. But more than a sweet new chair, I ended up with enough confidence to tackle my end game goal: my comfy coffee drinking book reading chair makeover. I was up for that challenge. And it turns out, many others. Check them out.

Smelly, ugly, no legs chair - BEFORE

Figuring it out...

And voilà! AFTER!

I was ready to try my hand at transforming my favorite chair - BEFORE

I waited for a great sale on fabric, and then jumped in.

AFTER! I couldn't have been happier!

Then I found a really cool shaped chair that was surprisingly comfortable. But so dirty and worn! And since I was now addicted to reupholstering I quickly snatched it up.

Armchair - BEFORE

Armchair - AFTER:

Some time later I saw these old benches that were from Holiday Inn hotel lobbies for sale, and I was intrigued by the possibilities. I loved the shape of them, and quickly bought one for $10. My lucky day!

Holiday Inn Bench - BEFORE:

Holiday Inn Bench - AFTER:

A while later I saw this wing chair in an antique shop, in obvious disrepair and in need of serious attention. I decided to be a bit creative with it and use complementary fabrics to change the look and feel of it. Such fun!