Collecting chairs is a little bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I could spend whole weekends searching for them in flea markets and antique stores, or trolling the internet for rare ones. I'm that girl who will get giddy more giddy over a chair in someone's home than over their shoe collection, and I have the Pinterest board to prove it! Thanks to a lucky Craigslist find, I scored this antique armless chair that was made in Italy over 60 years ago. Despite the chair being covered with a bit of cat hair, I knew with some time and fabric (and lots and lots… and lots… of staples) she would be a beauty.
I set out to create a chair with mixed prints, and found a gorgeous white and yellow kaleidoscope print, and more simple yellow and white pattern. Taking apart and reassembling a chair takes a good deal of time and patience, especially depending on the chair, so this project took a couple of weeks in between my full-time job, but was an absolute labor of love. I finished it up by embellishing the top cushion with brass furniture nails.
The chair will be up for sale over on the Apartment Therapy Classifieds page for those interested, and you can check out more before and after photos over here on my blog The Chestnut Orange. And if you're interested in learning more about the steps that go into reupholstering a chair, I'll be posting an article on tips for doing that right here on Apartment Therapy later this month!
(Images: Nicole Crowder)
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Love it, great job. Wish I could find a chair like that one.
The chair looks beautiful other than the nailhead trim...it looks really uneven.
What a relief to see a piece of furniture reupholstered in fabric without a chevron pattern!
Black swan, white swan!
I'm with SRK - the brass seems to have been a really bad idea.
Way, way better. Nice job.
Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnope.
I like the fabric you chose, but I'm not at all a fan of the nailhead trim, which as other folks have said looks uneven and not right for the chair. I could take or leave the paint.
Love the fabric choices, especially the contrasting back.
The after is lovely, very light and bright and airy. Your fabric choices are very now, and fun yet not overly bright. Nicely done, especially as a side project with a fulltime job taking most of your time! I would personally opt to rethink the nailheads, but would also opt to say so in a kind way :)
i really like it. i love the paint color and the fabric. i am not a huge fan of the nailhead thing, but it's not my chair. if you dig it, keep it! i just do not like that in general - i'm sure it looks better in person than the picture so i am not doubting your work was thorough.
i really appreciate this piece!
@Sammystyle
LOL! So true!
I actually like the nailhead trim,but I have to agree it looks amateurish.Bot overall,love the colors and fabric.
It's OK, but for me, too low-key. I would have taken a cue from the embellished wood, and painted or dyed it a fun color like purple or fuschia, and used a bright fabric and, possibly, contrasting outline tape, for a carnival/campy look. It's a stylish piece: dress it up!
Like the fabric. The rest is better from the before.
The brass took it a step too far as it does look poorly done. Like both fabrics, but the 'before' fabric looks rather interesting; paint the chair a glossy black and original fabric; NO brass nailheads, & it could have been an updated WoW.
Colours are perfect.
I love the paint and fabric!
I think that's a great re-do, fantastic new colors. If there's a chair re-do how-to coming along, could it please include info on how to make old swaying creaking chairs sturdier? glue suggestions, how to get glue to dry securely, etc, would be much appreciated! probably, especially by our dinner guests who may or may not eat their meals in fear of having their crazy ol' chair fall apart beneath them! :)
I'm with TumTum McPuff, that contrasting back is a lovely idea! Sweat seat!
One of those where I prefer the before.
It's not bad, but I would remove the nailhead trim and replace it with gimp instead. It would give you some flair while still following the lines of the chair more evenly.
I prefere the before
Looks much better now, was horrible before! Good job!