Cool or Granny's Parlor?

It seems like there's a fine line between reupholstered furniture that looks 'cool' and furniture that still looks like it belongs in granny's parlor.  I'm not sure if I'm capable of getting it right.  Tell me honestly, what do y'all think about...

this chenille fabric

on this chair?

Ottoman Empire

While walking past the ottomans in Target, my friend Lynette said something like, "If you had a bunch of these, you'd have an Ottoman Empire."

Like so many of my projects, this ottoman reminds me of different places.  I remember buying the once dirty gold velvet ottoman at a thrift store in San Diego for $8.  I paid way too much for the fabric to recover it.  Even 12 years later it still seems like way too much.  We hauled the ottoman and the fabric across the country in our move to La Crosse, Wisconsin.

When I see this ottoman, I think of a 40-minute drive on narrow country roads that wound through stark wintery farmland.  I think of Delilah who, with her calm and soothing voice, always kept me company during the drive.  I remember Jerry's upholstery shop that was located next to her house on her 120 acres of land.  I remember being so in love with the idea of having her life - at least what I saw of it.

Here's what I learned in upholstery class:

• A seemingly simple ottoman is full of surprises when you start taking it apart - like a diagonal zipper between the pillow top and the base.
• It takes approximately a gazillion staples and tacks to attach the different fabrics to the wood frame.
• Even though Jerry says you shouldn't worry about matching the fabric pattern on the side of the ottoman, you should if you're a Gwin.
• Industrial upholstery sewing machines can easily sew through like 27 layers of fabric.
• Lots of piping means there will be lots of sewing.
• People who teach upholstery classes get a lot of business from the students who can't hack the class. 

 

Here's a closer view of the ottoman - the unmatched pattern on the sides always drove me crazy.  By the way, I took these photos so I could sell this stuff on craigslist before our move to California.  There was no way this huge furniture was going to fit in our itty bitty living space in California.

Postscript:  Today, January 20th, I was looking through some old Wisconsin pictures and came across a quasi "before" picture of the ottoman.

Kristin and the Chair

This is Kristin.

This is a peak at the chair.

Kristin and I met while working together on a project at church.  We discovered that we had some common interests, like redoing furniture.  I'm the kind that reads extensively about everything and does a thousand projects - in my head.  Kristin's the kind that does a bit of research and then dives in head first.  She's finished a gazillion furniture projects while I've had the same torn-apart half-finished dining table occupying my dining room floor for months.

Now Kristin wants to delve into the adventurous and laborious task of reupholstering.  I've taken a few classes and finished a few pieces, mostly - more about that later.  I'm walking her through what appears to be a simple chair.  I've warned her though that there are lots of surprises when you start to deconstruct even the simplest looking thing.  Click here to read about our adventure so far.  My hands are in many of the photos.  Those hands might be famous one day.  You can say you knew me when.

The dresser below is my favorite "Kristin redo" so far.  She designed it and painted the base coat with Annie Sloan's chalk paint.  Our friend Pamela painted the birds and branches.  These two gals are a force to be reckoned with.
 

Before

 

After

I also thought you should know that Kristin grew up living on prison grounds.  Her dad was a warden.  He wrote this book and I think that's pretty cool.