My Latest Project

Back in March I bought this chair on craigslist. It is an antique but I got it for less than $30 because it was in such rough shape. Obviously as you can see the fabric is faded, torn, old, not even close to the original color, and wood was loose in a number of places. It needed some help. I thought it would be perfect because I wanted to practice my hand at reupholstering. I like the style of the chair and if I totally messed it up at least it wasn't a $100 chair, right? It took me a bit to get to it because the summer was really busy with traveling and having company and picking 500 lbs of blueberries.

Before

In Sept I started taking it apart. As you can see in the picture it looks like the seat is faded but the back of the chair is the original color. WRONG. The underneath color that I found was such a bright red it looks like an oriental fabric and print. The back was faded but the seat was so faded you couldn't even tell it used to be red.

It came apart easily and quickly and the padding underneath was in great shape and it was the old really good padding. You know from about 100 years ago. I used the old fabric as a pattern to cut the new fabric exactly the shape and sizes I needed it. The chair went back together beautifully.

After

The wood was in rough shape with lots of wear.  It also needs redone, but I decided not to because I like the look of antiqueness it adds to the chair.  (Figured if I put together my own chair, I could make up my own word too)  :)

I really enjoyed doing it and having it turn out so well gave me even more satisfaction. I know the fabric I chose won't be popular forever but I found it for very cheap and it's tough/durable. I have seen chairs done in a very similar pattern before and really liked them but they cost hundreds of dollars and for some reason Quinn always said no to buying them. This way I can enjoy this chair for as long as I want in this fabric then redo it again because I paid hardly anything for the fabric. I love the finished product.