Le Upholstered Chair, at last!

Do you remember, way back when, I showed you the projects I had on the calendar for Redoux?  There were several, and most of them are completed, however this  particular project was lollygagging behind. 

Keep in mind, White and Kids are difficult things to have coexisting.

It needed a Redoux in a more family friendly color. 

Just so you know, I practically had to suit up in this while I was deconstructing it. 

( I am HIGHLY allergic to cats) and some cats are in residence where this chair was living.



Plus, it was taking some time to choose a fabric. 

I had wanted to go with something in the gold family, but my client truly wanted Blue.  Thankfully, she was right, Gold would have probably gone down in history with kids along the same road as White. 

We chose the perfect shade of Blue.   

Once I got past the Cat hair, I was home free, or so I thought. 

 Then came the discovery of the overabundant staple community that apparently had taken residence

and had been rapidly breeding throughout the chair. 

This is when I brought in the professional to take over the task:

I highly recommend enlisting little boys in this part if you are tackling a reupholstery project. 

Heavy gloves, a staple puller (which is another must, purchased from any online upholstery supply store),

and some needle nose pliers. 

 Oh yes, and put down a LARGE drop cloth underneath the project

so you are not hunting down stray staples for days after. 

We decided to forgo the tufting, the construction of the chair was such that it

I might have had to take the entire frame apart to get to the original tufting.

Instead, I filled each tufting hole with batting, then wrapped the whole piece in Dacron

 to ensure it didn't move. 

SORRY NO PICTURE

AVAILABLE FOR THIS PART

And, after a little bloodletting (mine) from jabbing myself time

and again with the curved upholstery needle, I was able to pull it all together. 

So, going from before to after, I think it was a huge improvement and much more practical for kids.

Hopefully it will be enjoyed and used by the original owner for many years to come. 

It is going home now to it's rightful owner.

I will miss it, it had been here so long it had become a fixture in my family room. 

There are so many fantastic Upholstery books on the market today.

 I used about three of them to figure out different parts of the chair. 

 If you are DIYer, then you can do this too. 

I have done some smaller upholstered pieces,

but never one that entailed so much detail, making my own welting, etc. 

PS If you want to see a true upholster artist, then check out my friend Nia's blog and website: 

She is the bomb! 

http://summerlandstyle.blogspot.com/

or

http://summerlandstyle.com/Summerland_Style/Welcome.html

One More thing!  I am linking this project up with Kelli at Restore Interiors! 

http://www.restoreinteriors.blogspot.com/