The Latest: Apr 11, 2014

Even as a “before” this chair was a favorite of Karen’s — she adopted it from a friend who’d had it in his family for years. The original fabric had seen better days, especially after what Karen calls, “an unfortunate incident with our cat.” But since Karen was taking an upholstery class, she knew she could spruce this chair right up. Wow! We’d say that class was well worth it.

Does this kitchen look familiar? It is the Apartment Kitchen. I believe it was installed in every apartment built between 1978 and 1995. It is difficult to hate the Apartment Kitchen — it just is. But there is not much to love about it, either. So when One Kings Lane editor Kerstin, who had the Apartment Kitchen, met stylist Megan Pflug, who was looking to do an “easy but stylish” kitchen before and after, she jumped at the chance. Yes — it is the same kitchen. I know.

This old vinyl MCM style chair was asking to be rescued. Vinyl cushions paired with good bones and clean lines — need I say more? For 20 bucks it was mine, and I set off on my first attempt to reupholster a worthy chair. For my first re-upholstery job, I’m happy with the results. The structure of the chair was very sturdy, and the condition of padding was fair. I carefully un-stitched the vinyl and saved it to use as a pattern. The frame had to be sanded and re-stained.