Adventures in Upholstery

by Joanna May · May 22, 2011

Been meaning to write a post about my adventures in reupholstering. I started with recovering dining room seats and headboards, and then found a $20 chairs at a thrift store that had a great shape to it. The fabric wasn’t terrible, but I thought it might be a good reupholstery practice chair with some fabric I found at an antique mall.

I think the worst part about reupholstering something is removing all the old stuff! With this chair, I tried to be really careful removing the old fabric, because I wanted to use it as a pattern for my new one. Next time, I’m not sure if I’ll use that technique. I had a few pattern problems. Removing a zillion staples (with my handy needle-nose pliers) and nail head trim. When taking something apart like this, it really opens your eyes to how it’s all put together. It actually starts to make sense. After I finished this chair, I’d look at upholstered furniture, and imagine where all the pieces are stapled.

Thankfully, the batting, webbing and springs were all in great condition, so I was able to reuse it all, as well as the nailhead trim. Now I was using fabric remnants that I got at an antique mall, and the pattern wasn’t oriented the right way on all my pieces. I had the option of having sideways ducks, or altering the “pattern” a little bit. It probably would have been easier to do my first project with a solid instead of a print. Live and learn. I sanded the legs down and whitewashed them a little bit, and used copper to highlight some of the curves. I finished the legs with some clear Minwax paste wax, one of my favorite treatments.

The end product turned out pretty good. I did zero sewing on this project. I fake a welt using the old welt cording and stapling around the cord. One of the worst parts about this chair was nailing in the nailhead trim. I bent handfulls of nails trying, and getting them straight was a lot harder than I thought.

After recovering from this project a couple, I’m excited to start another.

I found a great wingback chair for $5 at a garage sale, but I still haven’t decided how to reupholster it, which is why I need your help. I have 3 ideas in mind, and I’ve included some example photos, and I’d love to hear your opinion!

1. Miss Mustard Seed style drop cloth wingback.
Simple off-white made from bleached drop cloths.

This picture is actually a slipcovered wingback, but you get the idea.

2. Drop-cloth based fabrics different on each panel.
Kinda hard to explain. I mean where the wings are one fabric, the seat is another, and the back is different, like the pics below.