Old Becomes New

Yesterday was such a treat. I finally got to pick up my antique slipper chair from the upholsterer. I dropped the chair off a year ago and finally got it back this Sunday- by no fault of the upholsterer, but mine. Awful, I know! In fact, if he wasn't such a nice guy (and I hadn't prepaid) he probably would have given up on me and sold the thing!


This chair is so special to me. I remember sitting on it when I was small. We would visit my great-grandfather and this would be my spot. After my great-grandfather passed away the family held an estate auction and my Aunt J bid and won the chair for me. I knew even at my age then what an amazing gift she had given me. I have cherished it for years and will for the rest of my life.


I could kick myself over and over because I don't have any "before" pictures of the chair. URGH! Why? I don't know. I really would have loved to have a before shot. Since I don't, I will tell you....this chair was in bad shape when I dropped it off to have it reupholstered.

The chair was originally covered in dark pink (or maybe red) velvet that was so terribly faded. Some of the tufting and buttons were missing, the skirt was falling off and two of the legs were wobbly. The springs were bent and poked you in the rear every time you sat on it. The padding and batting was only partially there and therefore the seat was lumpy, bumpy and just a mess.


Well, not any more! There are a few things we changed when deciding how to redo the chair. I didn't want to take away from the original charm of the chair but I also wanted to make sure it suited our lifestyle- with three kids. I decided to not do the tufted seat and back (my kids would be plucking those buttons off in a heartbeat). I also decided to not go with velvet. Again, in order to keep it looking nice when it comes in contact with the kids.

I chose two different fabrics that I thought suited the period of the chair. They are heavy duty upholstery fabrics with a nice pattern that I am sure will wear well and hide most of the dirt. The skirt and the piping/welting are accents on the chair. I am going to call the upholsterer and see if he has any of that fabric left over as I would love to make a small boudoir pillow out of it.

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! I started tearing up as soon as I saw it. My guy did an amazing job. He had to completely reconstruct the chair. He started out by tearing it down to the wood frame and "rebuilding" it with all new springs, foam, batting, webbing, etc. Honestly I don't think he charged enough!

Just to give you an idea of the scale of this chair, here is Bella standing beside it.............

She is a midget and yet still taller than the chair! It is 31" high and only 14" from floor to seat. I love, love, love this chair and am so happy that I finally had it redone. Someday I will pass it down to my girls and I hope they love it as much as I do. Something tells me they will.....

Bella is already saying "This Bella's chair!"

Now........................I think I should redecorate my master bedroom around the chair.............LOL!!

Have a great one everybody!!

~Heather:)