Retro chair re-do

Chairs, like all furnishings, are freakin' expensive. I needed a smallish chair, and instead of paying $600 at RC Willey, I found this $60 one at a thrift shop in California. I don't really know why I like it, maybe because it's curvy and has a lot of real wood, which is hard to find in new furniture these days. The foam was in good shape, but the wood had this 1960s opaque-looking finish on it. The color was all wrong, and the fabric was hideous.
Before, take II
I sanded it down which was a huge pain in the butt. All those curves, surfaces. Argh, it took forever. I stained it a darker color, and used satin polyurethane for the finish. I think it updated it at least ten years. Ha. The first incarnation was recovered with what I thought would be a very worldly use of fabric-- a hot pink hammock I've been dragging around with me from Ecuador. It turned out that the fabric was just too thin, and you could see it puckering around the foam. I'm sure I could have added it to a base fabric of some sort, but by the time I'd sewn it and put it on and taken it off several times, it had already started to wear out in places. I loved the hot-pinkness of it, but ended up going with something else. I will keep that fabric for pillows!!
Before, take I

I found this very retro whitish-yellow circle print at the discount fabric store for yes, $5/yard. It is heavy, so hides the foam well. It was really easy to work with, and I think it goes well with the dark wood. I basically made two pillowcases for the cushions, and blammo, $70 chair! And my first upholstery project.

Brandon took one look at it and said I have "grandma style." Ha! He doesn't know. Now he always laughs and says I have grandma style about everything, which is OK because it counteracts his stupid, heavy metal, basic dude who-would-live-in-a-cardboard-box-if-he-had-no-woman-in-his-life-style!


After!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New name?

I realized that I have had a Bloggy Renaissance lately, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I miss writing. Maybe I have stuff to write about these days with this house, rather than just bitching about the daily grind. I like to have a place to put all my pictures and stories too, like a proud mama. Maybe it's because the "transition" is finally coming to a close, and I have a real life back after traveling, living in four different states, school, marriage, house, career, etc. This morning before it warmed up enough to paint, I spent a couple hours going back to 2006 and reading my bloggy. Woah. This blog was very different then, and I kind of liked it. In '06, I was struggling, and searching for something. Mostly money. I did a lot of philosophizing, and ranting. Man, those next couple years were stressful. It's funny though... all the things I wished for have come true, and I have emerged a different person. My blog has changed too. I think is has become kind o
Read more

Sad little wall.

Image
I thought I was done with interior design for a while. I like how everything looks and feels in the house. Eclectic, collected, sentimental, and MINE. But, recently two people poo-pooed my lion wall. This makes me think they don't know a thing. Or, is my lion wall not as great as I think? The wall in question. This wall is in the living room; a tiny, open, 15x20 room squished next to the kitchen that functions as family room, den, living room, and office. The left (in photo) side is flanked by the bar, with two stools. It has the world's frumpiest couch (but very, very comfy), and two chairs. On the right is a picture window. The couch faces the TV. I have struggled with this wall several times. Should it be an accent wall? House a large piece of art? If so, what? I've tried to make several montages of family photos, found things, and it always comes out mish-mashed. Until I found the lion. She came from an antique store in Reno, and was living on the tallest part of
Read more

Tales of an unemployed journalist

Yesterday I worked for the big-name shoe company again, Nike, bussing tables at an event for 700 regional sales managers in town for the Spring '07 sales convention. The staff was mostly college students, and a few tired, middle-aged women with little education or work experience. There were a few oddballs and creepo's too, those who probably couldn't get work anywhere else because of criminal records and whatnot. Courtney, a relatively fair-looking black man asked me to come over to his place after work and watch a movie. I thanked him and told him my boyfriend would probably not appreciate that. Ten minutes later, he offered to drive me home in his van. Later, he asked the woman standing next to me if she had a car, a boyfriend, and any plans for that night. I found out later he'd gone around to every woman working and asked the same things. Anyhoo, while working there I couldn't help but be my curious self, and I pretended to be an employed, undercover journalist
Read more