chair project: deconstruction

A loooong, long time ago, I mentioned a chair project that I've been working on. It's been a long, slow process (that is still not 100% done), but I couldn't wait any longer...I had to show you the results of my reupholstery project!

I've been intrigued by reupholstery for a while now...ever since I love cute furniture that I can't afford. I have expensive tastes. What can I say? So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and MAKE a chair I loved.

You can see the "after" photo above. Didn't it turn out great?!? Haha! No. I'm kidding. That's totally the "before." I found this beauty on Craig's List and it cost me a whopping $30. I loved the unique shape and size. And this sucker is SUPER comfortable. However, mustard crushed velvet???? Those words should not even be in the same sentence together, let alone on a beautiful chair like this! It's a crime! So, I set out to right it.

Hands down, the worst part of reupholstery has got to be the deconstruction process.

Major Obstacle #1: There were literally thousands of heavy duty staples in this chair, most of which were stapled in so well that they were actually invisible through the fabric. After roughly three days of painstaking staple pulling (and serious consideration of getting a tetanus shot), I finally gave up and just began tearing the fabric off.

Major Obstacle #2: Even when you get so frustrated with the staple situation that you start tearing off the fabric like a woman possessed, you have to be super careful not to ruin the original material. Yes, even though I was determined to incinerate that nasty fabric as soon as humanly possible, I still had to use the pieces as a guide for cutting the new material. Yuck.

Now that I've bitched and moaned about what a pain upholstery is, I hope you're all feeling inspired to take on an upholstery project yourself! Haha, no, the worst part is over. Tomorrow I'll be back to show you the "after" shot. It turned out so great and was absolutely worth all the blood, sweat, and tears...and tetanus.