before and after by Grace Bonney 49

before & after: chloe’s couch

chloebefore
this gorgeous before & after comes from chloë greene of toots & magoo in chapel hill, nc. along with her godmother (who is the co-owner of the shop), chloë restored this old victorian couch and reupholstered it with a bold pink hable construction print. so lovely!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your pictures!]

chloeafter
chloeafter2

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49 Comments

Avril

That’s wonderful! The large, bold print is wonderful juxtaposed with the ornate carving and formality of the wood, but still picks up on the scroll detail nicely. And a big hip, hip, hooray for the refreshing lack of white painted wood!

Kenneth

Grace, I am a fan. I love your blog. But please, must you feature these upholstery projects so constantly? Surely there are enough exciting things going on in the design world to fill the space without another sofa/chair/ottoman covered in exciting colorful fabric. I mean it in the best way possible. You have to admit, added to all the DYI furniture painting projects, it is getting to be slightly much. I hope you will give it some thought.

Sara Keeth

My friends have a couch that is almost an exact duplicate of this one! The stripped the wood down to a pale weathered finish and upholstered it in a tiny leopard print. Me-ow!

grace

kenneth

the answer is simple for me: yes.

i happen to put fabric and upholstery at the top of my personal “favorites” list so they’ll always be a heavy presence on d*s.

that said, we post at least 7 times a day, 5 times a week, and i don’t think 2 upholstery posts outweigh the other content we run by any means.

but stay tuned for the rest of the day- not a shred of upholstery in the next before & afters ;)

grace

Katie

How fun to see a shop in one’s own small town featured on d*s. However, allow me to point out that you misspelled the name. It is “Toots and Magoo.” :-)

Teri

I must say, I do like the before too (if in the right room it wouldn’t be boring, that is a GREAT couch), but what a WOW factor that fabric lends!!! You could have a boring room and throw just that in and it would be amazing! Nice work!

Sue

Wow! this looks wonderful! Love the fun fabric used! Really wakes up the piece. This is truly inspiring.

Casey

My jaw dropped when I saw this couch. If I had a drawing room, or a parlor, or even a home office, this would be the couch in it. (I can’t really see sprawling on it to watch TV.) LOVE it.

Stephanie

I *love* this and love Toots and Magoo. It would be first on the list in a Chapel Hill Design Guide.

akempffer

Any tips on where to buy upholstery fabric online? I have a great antique chair I would love to do but no fabric stores even close to where I live.

Jeff Flemings

I love your blog, please don’t change it. I learn from and get inspired by your POV. Your POV is you, why change it to reflect what someone else wants?

Suzy

I am planning to reupholster two chairs for our new home that my husband and I are moving into this weekend. Google has not been my friend while searching for cute fabric for my project. Where can I find upholstery fabric like this pattern? Thank you!

jiminycrow

The lines and turns in the wood frame are ornate yet subdued. Such a graphically aggressive pattern is a brave and bold contrast, but I have to wonder if a more understated fabric choice would have done more to compliment such an elegant foundation.

Blandwagon

Please tell me that the upholstery in the Before picture was a vinyl renovation from the 60s or 70s, and not the original, century-old, undamaged leather.

Please?

Shandell's

The original furniture maker is probably smiling from the grave. This is the best make over I have seen in a long time.

patchWORK

I’m with Blandwagon- I love rescuing antiques and had the original leather been beyond repair then I would appreciate the juxtaposition of old and new BUT please everyone don’t destroy valuable original upholstery. Find something that NEEDS reupholstering for these projects and leave the original antiques to those of us who appreciate their integrity.

Karyn

Holy cow, the re-upholsters did such a beautiful, perfect job fitting the right parts of the fabric pattern to the right parts of the sofa. What a treat to see a professional job like that — thanks for posting!

Junktiques

What I wouldn’t give for a Biedermeier sofa in perfect condition!! The lines… the structure, I’m drooling. And on that note, I’m in the same boat as Blandwagon and patchwork… its a shame to see original material destroyed and replaced with a loud fabric that is drowning out its original beauty.

maureenlynne

i love the gorgeous pink fabric!!! i have a sofa similar to this that i’m selecting fabric for, and now i think i’ll start looking at very bold designs..thanks..

durhamloveyourself

i love toots and magoo! i expected no less from these ladies. just lovely!

9design

y’know, even though I detest pink, ordinarily, this juxtaposition has so much cheerful punch & knock-your-socks-off daring and pizazz, that I just love it!

viola

I agree with some of the comments here. sometimes these crazy fabrics can date quickly and you have to ask yourself how long can you live with it. Did you know enough about the older piece to know if you weren’t smothering a valuable antique. Sometimes a classical piece will outlast if you just knew its history and took it to a real upholsterer who could restore it to its lovely shine. If you love these bright fabrics, make a simple panel out of as a wall hanging. Whwn you get sick of it, it easier to change.

Kyle

I never get tired of these before and afters! I think this one is my all time favorite.

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