the other day larkyn from little willow left a comment with a link to this fantastic chair re-do project. 5 years ago she and her sister bought these chairs at an antique shop in california. larkyn says, “they had been languishing in my garage for the past 2 years until haley [her sister] finally took charge and got the project started. she deserves all the credit since it was she who decided to paint them white, do two different fabrics, one for the front and one for the back and she found an inexpensive ulpholstery guy to put it all together. we both used pink as a starting point. haley’s fabric came from designer etsuko furuya at purlsoho and mine is vanessa arbuthnott from her sky collection. i am thrilled with the outcome!” i think the before and after is fantastic- and all that pink- they’d be so pretty in a little girl’s room. larkyn and her sister used a professional but if you’re not scared to take things apart this is a project that some of you might be able to do on your own. otherwise, don’t be afraid to call your local upholsterer and bring in your favorite fabrics for a project like this. i’m still looking for a good local resource in brooklyn so i’m glad these guys found someone in mill valley. click here for more information on little willow. great work larkyn and haley!
22 Comments
Those turned out beautifully! So inspiring…I have to go salvage a chair already! Perhaps I’ll make it my first project when I move to Madison this month.
Oh my these are so beautiful!
I don’t understand where people find these great fabrics. Where else can you find good modern print fabrics besides repro? I need to find a good fabric with a print for a chair that will get a lot of use!
Awesome.
brian
the post above has two good resources for affordable fabrics other than repro ;)
i second the rec. for purl soho, they can incredible fabric.
i also like joel dewberry and alexander henry. i would try those in addition to etsy- sometimes people resell namebrand fabrics for lower prices there.
grace
Some of those are nice. I think I’m looking for something more basic and clean looking.
Grace, where did you get your fabric for your couch?
brian
purl actually has a great collection of basic fabrics. try their solids section and the linen section, those can be nice. in person they have so, so much more.
i used hable construction fabric on my couch. they’re trade only (i know them personally so they allowed me to buy direct) but you can use most local design center or interior designer for a small fee and have them order the fabric for you.
grace
Adorable!! I’ve reclaimed a couple of chairs already, with two more waiting.
Great ideas! I love the different fabrics!
Wow! That is one incredible before and after.
those are fantastic!
Those are awesome. I see a chair rescue in my future too!!!
those are so girly cute. there should be a section on d*s called before/after, the eye candy would be fabulous.
the pink bird chair is awe-inspiring!!
Those are awesome!! Upholstery is at the top of my list of things to learn to do. I’m so afraid I’d take a decent piece of furniture and ruin it somehow. Any suggestion on good books/tutorials?
These are so lovely redone. I particularly like the swallow fabric at the bottom. I need my grandmother to teach me how to reupholster furniture!
aruna
i’m working on a before/after column as we speak ;)
grace
Those chairs are fantastic!
That would be a fun project to do on a rainy/snowy day.
Oh sad. I liked them as they were. I thought the way the flowers kind of grew up the backs of the chairs was really interesting.
Nice fabric combinations though.
Thanks for posting Grace! They are my crowning achievement!
Just to let your commentors know; I used an upholster in San Jose, CA, he charged $150 per chair, not to bad I thought. They can email from Little Willow if they want his info.
-Larkyn
I can’t take it. These are too fabulous!!
I love me some good upholstered chair porn.
mm mm mm
I would have passed these chairs over! Good find and fix-up :-)
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