The Arm Chair - Before
This chair from a Wilmington, DE family passed into a new generation. It came with some wear and some smudges and the aftermath of someone’s cat. The dowdy appearance didn’t suit its place of honor in the front parlor.
The chair had been re-upholstered some decades past and the cushion degraded with time and wear. Also, the cording around the exposed wood presented as heavy and clunky.
We started by liberating the wood from the intrusive cord and cleaning the old finish. Some stain and a new coat of satin lacquer blended the scrapes and dings, giving a uniform look.
While we removed the rest of the fabric and fashioned a new seat cushion, the hunt for replacement fabric began.
The Fabric
A fireplace, bookcases, and a stairway dominate the parlor - not much room for art and decorative expression. So, almost right away the chair inherited the potential for flourish and pop! Something unique, fresh, and random to offset all the rectangles in the room.
Several weeks passed searching fabric collections and viewing fabric samples.
Until these from the Vervain collection at Fabricut … (click pictures to view larger)
It was rather expensive, but THAT was the pattern! With a 65” vertical repeat the pattern was no pattern at all when applied to the chair. It was like a large random mural. The final choice was the colorway, which was the brighter Rainforest.
The Re-Upholstered Chair
We slid the pattern around on the individual sections of the chair to decide on cuts that wouldn’t look overly ‘jumpy’. We also used lighter cording to finish the cut fabric edges around the wood. Of the six yards of fabric we ordered, mere tatters and odd pieces remained.
And the chair … a lovely, fresh, entrancing flourish!
The Upholstery Cost
Re-Upholstery labor, wood touch-up and new cushion core: $880.00
6 yards Sakura Rainforest fabric: $639.00
Fabric shipping: $34
Total revival: $1553