Take Three

Having impeccable taste as a 14-year-old, I picked up this mid-century modern knock-off for $10... in 1999. Since then it has gone through two transformations. One as a 4-H project, where I painted it, replaced the cushions and learned a little bit about reupholstery. It served me well through high school, college, and as of late, in my parents 3-season gazebo.

Now it's back in my possession and has gotten another facelift. In 1999, I received a purple ribbon at the county fair, proceeded to state and got a blue ribbon... sadly, I don't think I would've received as high of marks this time around. I blame it on patience (or lack thereof).

As I was looking through my 4-H record books over the weekend I stumbled upon some interesting things:

1. I'm ridiculously anal and write nearly everything down.

2. Susie, one of my bucket calves, ate 1.5 lbs of 'Lil Creeper on April 18th (see numero uno)

3. When starting this project, I consulted a professional upholsterer. For newbies, she recommended not using stripes or velvet... did I listen? No. First time around it was a large plaid or basically stripes. This time, velvet.

Her reasoning? You have to be careful to match the stripes or the direction of the velvet... I did not do the latter... oops. I also discovered velvet is a much thicker fabric, making it much harder to sew. I gave up on a welting/cording after painstakingly creating 8 feet of it because I was afraid of the thickness and overall outcome.

Chair as purchased, circa 1999

Starting the sanding process, really wish I would've painted it!

Sadly, I don't have any pics of the first make-over. I'm sure there are some around, it would just take another 6 hours of going through storage at my 'rents.

New view from "my spot" on the couch.

In the future, I'm hoping to strip the chair of paint and restore the original wood... if that's even possible. I'm lovin' the navy though!