We’re huge fans of Skinny La Minx — you may remember this lovely new “wildflowers” print from Grace’s post earlier this week. I love fabric, but sometimes I resist buying it because I have no idea how to use it if I’m not doing huge projects like curtains or couches. Luckily, Heather had this awesome…
I’ve tackled a few chair renovations, but I’ll be honest: caning intimidates me. I’m eagerly awaiting the day that Amanda covers caning in Upholstery Basics, but until then, I’m steering clear. I love this chair renovation from Haley Beham; she’s found an inventive way to mimic the original caning back by weaving strips of cotton…
It’s so fun to see where people go hunting for furniture — thrift stores, yard sales, the bizarre junk shop you can barely walk around in. There’s treasure to be found everywhere! Wippowillow founder Kate Troyer decided to combine her modern textile designs with a more traditional chair shape. Her friend and colleague Shannon found…
How kind of you to join me again for Upholstery Basics as we wrap up this sweet little chair! As you’ve seen from Parts One and Two, coil springs are quite a labor of love but are responsible for seats worthy of lingering. When I finished this chair, I decided it had to come home with…
These types of Eames knock-off chairs have seen their fair share of new upholstery. I’ve seen cowhide, wools and patterns of all kinds, but never denim. Before this project, if you said the words denim and upholstery in the same sentence, I would cringe and run away. But this denim chevron print created by Jody…
I took a beginner’s upholstery class last fall, where my fellow students and I were cautioned against choosing an intricately patterned fabric to work with on our first attempt. Stupidly, I ignored my teacher’s advice and chose a plaid — not a great idea. I simply could not get the pattern to align properly and…
There I go again with the rhyming! I can’t help myself, I’m afraid. I hope I’m not offending anyone when I say this, but these chairs that Danielle picked up for $20 are “granny ugly” in the worst way. I half expected them to be covered in those thick clear plastic seat protectors. I never…
I want to start this post by clarifying that I am not partial to project images with pets in them. Unless it’s a corgi (cardigans only, please), in which case I’m powerless to resist. As far as Jessica’s upholstered chair is concerned, I just dig it — cat or no cat. Wait, why isn’t that…
i love, love, love these beautiful chair re-dos from heather at skinny la minx. she has (luckily for us) produced her orla fabric in yardage in a rainbow of colors. she worked with dan from saks corner to reupholster and refurbish a bunch of old tattered chairs. the results are amazing! i especially love the…
i dream of having space for a potting station one day (and a cutting garden) so when i saw his makeover from deborah hanamura i was sold. deborah’s husband bruce has been experimenting with ways to re-purpose used shipping pallets and decided to start turning them into potting stations. deborah and bruce love the way…
this next chair project comes from d*s reader betsy o’gara. betsy found this chair at a garage sale for $6.50 and grabbed a can of discounted (mis-tint) paint from lowes for only $1.00. she re-used a burlap bag (from rice at costco) to create the new seat and loves the way the girly pink paint…
there was a lot of painted furniture going on in last week’s before & afters so i thought it was fitting to start today’s makeovers with a make under. d*s reader alicia murphy spotted this chair on the side of the road and, despite not having a house to put it in at the time…
it’s before & after day and today we’re using the rest of the day, from 10am to 1pm, to celebrate 10 great makeover projects, ranging from small furniture to a full home exterior. i wanted to kick things off with three great chair projects that prove curbside finds can easily find a place in your…
my inbox was overflowing with fun before & afters this week so i’m kicking things off early today with two great furniture projects. first up is jelena, who rehabs furniture to sell on her etsy shop poppyseed living. the small dresser above (named “hazel”) was cleaned up and finished with anthropologie knobs to give the…
today’s first before & afters are all about chairs. d*s reader kari recently had her first child and wanted to update a rocker to use in his room. after finding a $10 wooden rocker on craigslist, kari cleaned up the frame and reupholstered the seat and back pads with a cheerful new fabric to match…
this fantastic before & after project comes from lucinda henry of shakti space designs, a decorative painting business. inspired by pieces she saw in a magazine (see photos below) lucinda decided to refurbish this old cabinet she purchased back in 1997. after traveling with her from chicago to seattle, then portland, this little cabinet lived…
our next before & afters are all about seating. one is from a previous before & after subject and features beautiful pleated upholstery and the other is from a d*s reader who discovered how simple, but elegant, the addition of mirrors can be to basic furniture. first up is d*s reader lori dunbar of marzipan…
this before & after comes from rachel at vintage song bird- this was her first re-upholstery project and i’m just as excited about it as she is. it’s no small task to strip a chair, guts and all, so i’m happy that rachel was able to tackle her first project successfully. thanks, rachel! [have a…
for this before & after makeover, d*s reader toni brogan of the catskill kiwi combined two of my favorite things: a chair with good bones and plaid upholstery. plaid can feel a little upper east side, preppy and conservative, but i love the way she’s integrated it into the decor in her living room. for…
normally i’m not a fan of messing with a classic, but when it’s a knock-off, and the new fabric is this cute i’m totally game. brad dufton from colorTHEORY sent over this fun chair makeover that he did for his friend peter. peter’s eames lounge chair knock-off was in a need of an upgrade so…
