A Chair Here ~ A Chair There

Can I put chairs everywhere?

Several weeks ago one of my favorite interior design bloggers told me I was having so much luck with chairs lately. That is true. I must confess that I'm also a bit obsessive with searching until finding exactly what I'm looking for. I try to ignore minor flaws that usually can be converted to enhance hidden beauty. A wonderful accent chair or smaller club/lounge chair can give an area some instant charm. I especially prefer older chairs refinished, reupholstered, slipcovered, and redesigned with timelessness in mind.

Here are my most recent older chair re-dos plus a recap on two previous chair finds. 

1) Never floral button tuft me again!

About six years ago an accent chair was found by moi at the Austin Antique Mall. That chair's makeover project is finally completed. Actually, it sat in that mall well over a year before my "girl you better get that chair!" attitude changed its fate. I was slow as a snail to buy it and even slower to re-do it. Of course this was before the big seeking used-furniture craze got competitive and as popular as it is today. I am aware that people have been buying used-furniture for decades, but not like they do now. On the weekends every thrift furniture store I walk into is packed with people and the funny thing is the prices keep going up even though the old items need some serious WORK! 

The issue with this particular chair was I couldn't decide what to do. It sat looking as you see it below for a long time. I would throw a leopard print microfiber remnant over it to hide its ugliness good looks. Oh, I now HATE microfiber and fabric made out of synthetics. That remnant would electric shock me (with sparks) each time I would straighten it.

Surprise! 

When I started to remove its past I found orange velvet on the seat and an old fashion upholstery job.

I stripped it down to the frame and put my painting skills to work. At first I painted it solid white, but that was to stark. So I changed my mind and distressed the white. I thought that was a bit boring for this chair, so I let it sit in a corner for over a year incomplete and unable to be used. Then last January before we moved into our townhouse, I was smitten by the gorgeous light neutral painted accent chairs I'd seen in magazines like Veranda and my favorite, House Beautiful. So I decided a pale grey distressed-finish is what it really needed and put my painting skills to work again.

One thing I will admit is… Elena can paint her tail off but she CAN'T do an upholstery job! 

After we settled in and I figured out what to do with the living-dining area, I delivered the painted frame to Long Upholstery Service here in Austin on North Lamar Blvd. I had the perfect fabric for this chairs new look... a thick basket-weave Libeco linen. Long's is popular with some old-school interior designers and antique dealers in the area. They do great work with the best prices in town and don't have you wasting money purchasing too much fabric yardage. One reason I hesitate to buying new upholstery pieces (not just because of having carte blanche taste with a piggy bank budget) is because I am a huge fan of using COM and unfortunately that part of an upholstery budget can get ridiculous when you are not a member of the trade. Most furniture manufacturers ALWAYS require too much fabric yardage. 

Here she sits re-done in her new threads. I really like that she is neutral to be able to coordinate with whatever the future unfolds. I added a throw pillow made with Ralph Lauren Leopard Sand fabric, which is also on the cushioned seat of an iron bench in our living room.

Don't you just love that concrete floor waiting for its wood?

2) Please slipcover me!

The next two chairs are old-school Norwalk Sophie wing chairs that require a slipcover but sat around naked for years. My intention was to have washable slipcovers made a long time ago, but it just didn't happen. I bought a few yards of a heavy white linen for each chair. I washed, dried and threw that on as a cover. A lazy, crazy, throw on cover indeed. The good thing is I now know that particular white linen washes and wears like iron, if I ever desire white slipcovers. Here is one chair without the lazy cover to show the shape and these chairs didn't come with a muslin cover on the seat cushion either. I was using a cut up sheet until I could make up my mind on the slipcover fabric. 

Good grief, it looks ghetto!

  

The problem was indecisiveness over what fabric to buy. I love French Country interiors, but I've been a Ralph Lauren fabric fanatic since he came on the American interior design scene back in the 1980s. I think he use to lean more toward combining classic interiors of the United Kingdom with Americana, but now my opinion is he has developed his own American sophisticated flair that is influenced by a multitude of world cultures. Ralph Lauren Home has fabrics that are linen, denim, wool, silk, corduroy, matelasse, damask, velvet, mohair, stripe, floral, botanical, embroidery, paisley, ethnic, animal print, tweed, check, plaid and tartans… galore! RL has so many fabulous choices, but of course most were not actually meant for piggy bank budget shoppers like myself. 

At least not until eBay!

After moving into our townhouse my first plan was to have all upholstery pieces either in white, or light neutral linens. Seeing that style for years in magazine features and visiting beautiful antique shops like The Gray Door when in Houston had started to influence my interior choices. But laying large samples of solid white, off-white, and light grey-beige fabrics around this townhouse to stare back at me over the past four months, caused the living area to scream for some color. I've painted most of the furniture in lighter neutrals, giving the area an easy background. I have also painted many accessories, changing them from being dark to light. 

I just could not make up my mind, so instead of spending more money on fabric yardage I decided to have the needed slipcovers made using a vintage RL striped linen upholstery fabric. I'd been hoarding 28 yards of that linen on a bolt for too long. Years ago I got lucky and found it on eBay, paying only 56 dollars for ALL and just another 18 dollars for shipping. It was suppose to go on my old slipcovered sofa (eight years ago) but instead it suddenly went in a closet because some obsessive woman I know went beige. Ha!

EEEK! That's a lot of color!

For this project I HAD TO bring in the big guns because my sewing skills and patience would have had these stripes leaning and waving at you.

Shabby Slips of Austin was founded by designer Sara Scaglione in 1994. The once small boutique has grown from making custom slipcovers and selling antiques into a "...full service Interior Design showroom where clients can come and experience the classic, timeless interiors that are shown throughout the space."  (from Shabby Slips website )

Stepping into the showroom you can see and feel what I call Austin's classiest representation of interior design mixing the old with the new. In there you will find real casual elegance. The showroom's appearance is so gorgeous and inviting that it MAKES you desire to use white upholstery fabric. But I chose to stand firm by some color for now.

Personally, I believe their labor prices are spot-on. I gave them my fabric. They washed and preshrunk the yardage, then came out to my house and cut the fabric to fit the chairs properly and matched the stripes perfectly. After watching this first stage of making slipcovers I felt confident in choosing them for the job. There are probably other places that will make slipcovers around Austin for less. There is even one place out in Dripping Springs that wanted to charge me double the price of Shabby Slips, which is OUTRAGEOUS! (I will not mention their name) Another popular business didn't take me seriously and never answered my inquiry. (I won't mention their name either) Some people think getting a custom slipcover made should come cheap and that may be good enough to get by for them, but not in my house. I wanted quality workmanship and for my minor project to be respected.

Which is why I say:

If you...need superior made slipcovers for your furniture...want good customer service...desire for them to be beautiful in your home...and are near Austin, Texas...visit Shabby Slips gorgeous showroom and indulge in their services.

The stripes line up perfectly.

The two Sophie wing chairs are no longer naked and colorful slipcovers, though OUT of style in the interior magazine world, are back IN style at my petite maison. Well, at least until next spring when I have Shabby Slips make another pair of slipcovers for these chairs. Perhaps by then I will be screaming for white.

The chairs are English country rather than French, but they will work for a while. I am looking for a nice fabric to make two small kidney pillows for the chairs. I have thought of using the matching fabric (there is plenty of leftover yardage) but that might be a bit too much. I'd prefer to lighten up the chair center. I wish to find a beautiful tapestry or border remnant in Round Top this week, to use with a solid linen. Or, perhaps two pillows already made like this Ankasa 12x18 Bali chintz linen and embroidery pillow.

Ankasa - Bali




3) Am I too old to change?

I have admired the look of a painted 18th century chair for a while, but when it came to buying one, the price tags were too heavy for my light budget. Often I would sit back and wonder where do most interior designers who refinish, reupholster and sell these beautiful redone antiques find the old chairs at? One lucky day my question was answered… perhaps at an estate sell or antique auction!

(Austin Auction photo)

I just happened upon this 18th century chair last spring while browsing through an upcoming auction inventory on Austin Auction's website. The starting bid was only 80 dollars! Yippee for me! I was so excited, but worried that someone would outbid me and snatch him away. I put my max bid in at only 200 and he went for a blink over 100 to that winning bidder... Moi!

After getting him home I couldn't decide whether to paint him or not? Every solid linen fabric I owned looked boring sitting across his lap and he told me that he must be wearing something natural, but in a stripe. 

The seat cushion lifts out and was built up the old fashion way with wood, tied springs, jute webbing, cotton batting and horse hair. But it was worn out, plus the muslin cover was old and soiled. I took the seat cushion to Long's and had them re-do it using a current RL linen Ice House Stripe - Jet. It only needed one yard and I found that on eBay for just eleven dollars! Yep you read that right 11.

(Ralph Lauren Home)

Then I made simple throw pillow cover out of another vintage RL fabric I have been hoarding, which coordinates the RL linen on the two slipcovered wing chairs. I wanted something floral. He'll have to get over being paired with these old traditional flowers until spring.

I decided against changing him with paint. The area needs some dark stained wood and he does look great for his age. Update: that pillow must go!

And after slipcovering the two wing chairs I made another pillow using the green background and placed it on the light-grey painted chair. The space needed the colors that is on the pillows. Below in the far right corner you can also see a piece of my taped off section for a future new sofa. My hubby calls this... "the dead sofa crime scene investigation area."

Between the two pillows I prefer the green background, so I may make another like it for the dark wood chair.

4) The other old-new chairs 

Antique country French dining chairs with seats recovered in linen.

Master bedroom French chair reupholstered in Belgian linen.

Well, by adding all of this with my kitchen comfort plan read here I am out of space for chairs and that is not fun nor a fact that I wish to embrace. Because... I keep running across other great older chairs with potential of being fabulous and worth someone using in their home. Perhaps a hobby business is calling?
 We shall seat!

~

Here are my favorite sources for finding high-end upholstery fabrics at affordable prices on eBay... 

Weavers on the Web

Always Fabrics 

Fabric For Less

Walsh Designs 
Aberdeen Fabrics 

AVISAOrganics

Great Textiles

Till next time

~

After all is said and done, sit down.

- Bill Copeland

Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesdays

Feather Nest Friday

Furniture Feature Friday

Kitchen Comfort

Using non-traditional seating at a kitchen table

I have a plan to make the seating in the kitchen breakfast area comfortable and cozy. 

Below are pictures of the empty breakfast area when we purchased our townhouse. The walls were covered in black grass-cloth wallpaper, which I had removed and redone with an eggshell black paint. All of the trim and doors are painted white. The custom wall cabinets are a pale beige that exactly matches a color in the floor. The floor is covered in marble tile. On the kitchen utility side there are no top cabinets. The lower cabinets are white with black honed granite counter tops. The black walls above the sink, surrounding a large window, are waiting for a 15 inch backsplash that will match the entire wall behind the range and refrigerator. The backsplash and wall will be beautified with multi white shades of 5 inch square dutch tiles.  

16x16 Marble

5x5 Dutch tile samples in 14 shades of white from Holland

Hanging above the breakfast table is this antique milk glass and aged brass pendant light fixture. If you'd like to read its story go here.

The next two fuzzy pictures were taken the week we moved in after the paint job. The vignettes are victims of me just taking stuff out of boxes and sitting them somewhere. The items in this hutch, that is on the left side wall of the breakfast area, has changed quite a bit. Now it is filled with cookbooks and other thrift French items.

A bar cart sits on the right side wall of the breakfast area. It has been changed on top to include a vintage white rooster lamp that awaits its new shade. I am one of those quirky rooster collectors and you can read about that here. I am putting a huge distressed white framed mirror on this wall soon. Both the hutch and bar cart are painted an aged grey-green. I like to use certain green and turquoise shades as accent colors against black and neutrals. 

my comfy-cozy plan 

At first I decided to use my wicker chairs with an old 42 inch black leather-top table that was found at Austin Antique Mall. The table base is metal and was once a mossy green but has faded with age and a lot of rust. It stands only 28 inches high.

In 2011 when we lived separately, I followed the blogging craze that sought out these kooboo wicker chairs. I really liked how they looked paired with a another metal table I used at my old apartment. That is Cerise sitting on the Iosis tapestry pillow looking out the French patio door. 

She always leaves a dent in the same pillow.

Since reuniting with hubby, he reminds me daily about these chairs being uncomfortable. Well, it is true about them not being cozy…sigh. They are just for sitting and looks, lol. I got them half price at Cost Plus World Market due to a sale sign being on the wrong chair. They will retire to the patio after I dose them with a water protective sealer. 

Since I am a believer in recycling older furniture, I searched hard for two used small club chairs to redo and slipcover, but it is difficult to find them with perfect dimensions for sitting comfortably upright at an eating table. So I am considering to have two chairs made by Century Furniture. 

 Century Furniture - Belmont Chair

The chairs would be upholstered in Century's stock muslin with no welt cording, plus upgraded to having spring down cushions and feather blend throw pillows. They are larger than the wicker chairs but are not bulky, nor sit too deep. After the chairs are delivered I will call on the awesome Shabby Slips of Austin to make each a washable slipcover. I am thinking this plan will be perfect for adding comfort in the breakfast area and it allows the space on the table backside to remain uncluttered, so that we can continue having easy access into the wall cabinets.  

I want this to be a cozy area for us to sit and keep each other company while we cook and enjoy our kitchen. I also desire a comfy space for using my computer while enjoying my morning coffee. The tufted ottoman will stay put. In the picture is looks big, but it isn't. The width is just 24 inches. The fabric is a thick woven flax color linen. Those brown legs are screaming at me to paint them, which is what should have been done BEFORE I had it reupholstered! But they will get a distressed coat of ASCP French Linen within the next few weekends.

I have been finding high-end/100 percent linen upholstery fabric on eBay at great prices. In fact, all of the fabric used on my redo projects has been eBay finds. Here is a closeup.

For the two chair slipcovers, maybe this Ralph Lauren Calvados Ticking - Flint. If not, being that the kitchen walls are painted black, white linen slipcovers would be fabulous too. 

The area needs a little splash of color, so for sure the two throw pillows will be in this Ralph Lauren linen, Ladies Day Floral - Spectator. I just need to find the one yard needed at a huge discount because it is very expensive!

I have always kept a counter stool in a kitchen. It is perfect for when I am cooking holiday meals and I need to sit for a minute. Having three grown sons to cook for is fun, but can get exhausting on the day before Thanksgiving, lol. I recovered the seat of my old counter stool using a Lee Jofa heavy woven cotton stripe sample, which was bargain eBay find. This stool will sit at the end of the kitchen island after it is remodeled. 

 I wish this fabric wasn't discontinued. Black and white is always in style, especially in a woven stripe.

Other chairs I have thought about using...

Quatrine - Captain Chair

Quatrine - Morning Chair

Taylor Scott - Jillian Chair

Taylor Scott - Packard Chair

Hickory Chair - Jackson Skirted Wing Chair

This was my source for inspiration. My kitchen area is designed nothing like this gorgeous room, but I love the non-traditional seating idea for a breakfast area. These are two of Quatrine's Morning Chairs. I visited Quatrine in Dallas two weeks ago. They have beautiful slipcovered furniture.

Source

Putting washable slipcovers on upholstered chairs in an eating area is ideal for keeping them clean and it allows the ability for seasonal changes. What do you think of the idea?

 I am hoping it all works out to be a very comfortable and cozy setting that we can enjoy for many years.

Till next time

~

Life is too short to not live in comfort!

Linking to:

Mod Mix Monday

Make it Pretty Monday

 
Furniture Feature Friday

Feather Nest Friday

Country French Style ~ Casual Dining Chairs

I love a comfortable and sturdy, casual wood dining chair, but not too tall or wide like many chairs I come across while hunting in stores. I needed six to place around our French bakery style dining table. Our dining space is right next to the living room and small. Years ago, in our former house the space was huge so I used six upholstered dining chairs around this same table. They were beautiful but not French and also quite large. This time for the townhouse, I felt real country French wood dining chairs would be appropriate and antique or used would be even better. 

Here is our dining table with a base made to resemble an antique French bakery's table. The top has a veneered painted green and beige French harlequin pattern on it.

 I first saw and fell in love with this table in 1985 while browsing thru Suniland, a former fine furniture store in Houston, which is now a Louis Shanks. During the 1980s, I use to browse thru fine furniture stores a lot, dreaming of purchasing items to own in the future. It wasn't until 1997 when I actually was able to afford this table and even better it was on clearance, but sadly for a "going out of business sale" at Interiors of Austin, another former fine furniture store in Texas. Many beautiful fine furniture stores have permanently closed their doors and bit the dust, sniff.  

While reading many DIY and decor blogs, I have seen many bloggers finding wonderful used dining chairs for their homes and hobby businesses. I also have admired many gorgeous antique dining chairs on interior design blogs. Oohing and awing over many photos gave me the idea to start searching for a set of my own. Knowing the measurements needed and style (country French) desired, I began playing a game of looking online through auctions and various sell sites. Eventually my winning moment came as I found the set of solid oak French chairs pictured below on the eBay store From Continental To You and yelled... BINGO!

(all the above chair photos taken by the eBay seller)

From Continental To You is a Belgian business that specializes in selling used European furniture and antiques that they call the "Craftsmanship of Generations."  They have a warehouse in Fairfield, Maine that holds their eBay store items that are sent to the USA. Working with them has been such a pleasurable experience. 

While waiting for the chairs to arrive I debated painting them using ASCP French Linen, or Pure White and adding a distressed aged wax finish. I would be recovering the seat cushions with either a French toile du jouy or a check fabric to keep my French Country in Texas theme going. Then I began to feel I might ruin these chairs and convinced myself to not buy the materials for the paint job and WAIT until they were actually sitting in our home, to decide. Of course I didn't use that good sense to do the same about fabric and impatiently purchased some yardage in both a toile du jouy and a check, grrrr. 

The next photo was taken last week on the morning they arrived. I must mention the fellas in Maine packed them extremely well. Though I liked them, there was something that really bothered me and made them seem as dull as this photo taken using my iPad. I went to work afterward thinking...YES, paint them!

But, two days later I began to worry about ruining them again. They are from France, were made during the 1930s and are in MINT condition. They are very sturdy and very comfortable. I liked them but something was bugging me, so I asked my wonderful hubby if he thought I should paint them. He said nope, the wood was too nice and we need something with stained wood showing around here. I usually paint everything.

On Saturday morning I figured out what was needed and got another bright idea!

The chair on the left is as they arrived, with a beige velvet that is the wrong shade for the dining table and too dated looking for me. Now you can see why a said grrrr earlier on buying fabric yardage in both a French toile du jouy and a check pattern. My bright idea caused me to use NEITHER! What a waste of money. I decided a natural linen was what these chairs needed. I have plenty of that hanging around this camp! This beautiful linen is backed for upholstery use and the application process was a snap since the seat cushions just pop out.

Here they are, all recovered. That is my sewing machine covered to the left, on the floor. The truth is I have been using our dining area as a work room since we moved in. It is usually a mess. Hubby can't wait until I am finished with projects so our place can actually be neat and tidy as in these pictures, lol. Plus, I can't wait until next spring when we finally have the herringbone hardwood floor.

Here is a close up under the table...

Now I LOVE them! They are for casual dining, country French and the right size for the space. Next up will be placing two candles on the candlesticks and filling the centerpiece with some type of succulent plant, or maybe hydrangea flowers that can dry out. I painted all three of those thrift finds. I will also work on getting the two paintings on the wall finally framed. It has only been since 2003 that they were commissioned. Yeesh, I am sometimes slow as a snail on getting things done.

If you are hunting for "Craftsmanship of Generations" furniture pieces from Europe be sure to check out From Continental To You on eBay from time to time.

Till next time

~

Enjoy the hunt!

~

Linking to

Wow Us Wednesdays

Feathered Nest Friday

Furniture Feature Friday