Progress is still being made on the French button back chair.  I was able to devote some time to her in the past few days so I wanted to update you on the work that has been done. Of all the things I work on, I almost always get the most questions about upholstery. This seems to be a topic of curiosity for many of you.

For the past ten plus years, I have been working on re-upholstering furniture.  It started because I usually had a specific idea of how I wanted a piece of furniture to look but was unable to find what I wanted  or I couldn’t afford what was available. Also, older furniture is so much better quality than anything more recent.    Anyway, it started off with reupholstering stools, then I moved to dining room chairs, then to an ottoman, then to a side chair, and so on and so forth.  Earlier this year, I redid a settee and you can read about the “before” here and the “after” here.

When I first started with upholstery, I would use painters drop cloth from a big box home improvement store. Now when I re-upholster a piece of furniture, I almost always use antique or vintage fabrics. To my eye, these fabrics look better and they are so well made that they hold up to the wear and tear imparted on furniture. Many of my textiles are from Wendy at the Textile Trunk.  If you love antique French textiles, definitely check out her Etsy store.

So, now for the update to the French button back chair.  During my last post, I still had some of the old upholstery that needed to be removed.  I was able to remove the remaining fabric from the chair, as well as another 5,000 staples.  I also sanded the legs and painted them with Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in the color “typewriter”.

 

 

 

The green tape you see, is painters tape, to protect the batting and brass wheels from getting any paint on them.

In the photo below, you can see the legs now painted black.  What a difference it makes!  Am I right?

 

 

Below are some inspiration photos that I found on Pinterest.  This is how I want the reupholstered chair to look.  I love well made furniture  but I prefer a more casual or less formal style.  My idea is to stitch together some larger pieces of antique textiles to impart more character and texture.  Some of these photos show furniture that is little bit too unfinished for my taste.  However, I love the fabric used with the letters and number combinations.

 

 

 

 

Of course, I realize that this style is not everyone’s cup of tea.  I completely understand that.

To me, re-upholstery is an intersection between practicality and art.  If I am going to embark on something requiring significant time, energy and resources then I feel that the end result should be unique.  Even if it doesn’t always appeal to everyone.

So, that’s the update.  As I continue to work on this project, I will share photos with you.  In closing, here are a few more “in progress” shots.  Thank you for stopping by the blog today!