The Chair

While living with my parents in Kansas, Andy and I wanted to try to find some furniture for our new apartment in Dallas.  Since they had a van (and were willing to watch Isaac) we figured it would be much easier to go get furniture then, rather than taking Isaac with us in our little sedan.

Long story short, one of the things I really wanted was a cute little chair to go in the corner of our living room.  I kind of have a thing for clean, classic lines and grey fabric, but I knew that finding those two things together wouldn't be cheap (or easy).  When I found a chair on Craigslist that was EXACTLY what I was looking for (minus the 1960s gold brocade fabric), I knew we could turn it into something beautiful with the right fabric.

Fast forward a week or two and it's suddenly the Friday before we leave for Utah.  Andy finally got sick of waiting for my mom and I to get started on re-upholstering the chair, so he took matters into his own hands.

This is the best before picture we have.  We forgot to get a good one before we started taking things apart.

First, Andy painstakingly removed every staple and nail to preserve the original fabric to use as a pattern for our pieces.  He also took over 100 pictures of every detail about how each piece fit together.  That way we could re-upholster the chair exactly the way it was done originally.

I don't have any pictures of the rest of the process, but it went something like this:

Once Andy was done taking the chair apart, we laid each piece out on the new fabric to make sure we had enough (we didn't).  We also realized that we were going to need upholstery batting to replace the 50+ year old batting that was firmly stuck on the fabric.  After a trip to the Jo-Ann's on in East Wichita, we had everything we needed to finish the project: more fabric, new batting, tacks, cord, etc.

After getting more fabric, we cut the new pieces using the old ones as our patterns.

I then sewed a BUNCH of piping! Since we didn't have enough fabric to cut it on the bias, we had to cut the strips of fabric surrounding the cording on the grain, but I would definitely recommend doing it on the bias if at all possible!

Andy then went to town with my parents' air compressed staple gun while I kept Isaac out of earshot and trouble.  When we left for Utah it was 90% done and the day we got back Andy finished it up.  It looks pretty awesome if you ask me!

I love this chair so much it's not even funny!  Every time I look at it I smile.  Isaac loves this chair too.  And by loves this chair, I mean he loves that the springs inside the chair make his hand bounce (and make a funny noise) when he stands next to the chair and hits down on it.  And he loves that if he can climb on it before Andy or I notice he can reach thinks on the bookshelf next to the chair by standing on the arm... or the guitar hero guitars behind the chair.  All around, this chair is loved.

We did learn a few lessons though about re-upholstering furniture (and any DIY projects really).

1. Re-upholstering isn't the cheapest way to get furniture.  We were wanting to spend about $80 on the chair, but after spending $60 to buy the chair, $60 on fabric (and that's after getting it 50% off!), $30 on batting, and another $15 on miscellaneous supplies, it cost us double what we had anticipated.  If you have a specific idea in your head though and you can't find it anywhere (within a reasonable price range), it's a good option.  Just be sure to price out the project before you start so you aren't surprised by how much it costs!

2. Take way more pictures than you think you'll need.  Even though Andy took a ton of pictures, we still had some parts where we weren't sure how exactly it should go back together.

3. It's worth it to take the time to make everything look perfect.  Even if it takes a few extra hours.  Make sure the pattern matches (as much as possible).  Make sure to pull the fabric as tight as possible while stapling.  If you're going to spend that much time and money on a project, it should end up as something you LOVE.

4. Curves and seams are hard to get right. Look for a piece with as many straight lines as possible.

5. Make sure the piece has good bones.  If it's a chair/couch, you want it to have good firm cushions and a good solid frame.  Re-upholstery isn't a cure-all for sad looking couch, but it is a good way to update an outdated piece that's otherwise in good shape!

In the end, we'll probably skip the DIY re-upholstery for awhile and stick to slightly simpler projects for the time being.  Andy swears he's never going to do it again... and I've promised myself I'll start off with something easier.