Two wingback chairs that belonged to a client’s family but were in a desperate need of an overhaul. New foam, webbing, fabric and legs gave a new lease of life to these grand old chairs.
The treasures you can pick up on the side of the road!!!!!! all you need is a little vision of what could be. This client found this chair during a council clean up and loved the shape. Once the fabric was picked – gorgeous velvet by Warwick, it was time to get to work.
All the old layers were taken off, as well as the springs, as they were rusty and out of alignment.
The legs were stripped of old paint and polish then it was time to put in new webbing, springs, hessian and padding and finally the fabric.
I love going to auction houses to see what treasures there are. I came across this ugly looking rocking chair but I was sure I could transform it. Old rocking chairs are hard to find and this one definitely was in the need of a makeover. First things first – out with the old coverings and the old finishing on the wood. A good sand then a white wash and lacquer on top to create a shabby chic style.
I have used material that I sourced from Bev’s Remnants. What a fantastic store – you never come out empty handed.
I love the soft blue/ green and the old fashioned velvet on the back and sides.
What is it about teenage boys who can’t sit still and need to rock back & forth on the dining room chair.
No matter who I talk to this is a common theme. Of course the inevitable happens , after countless raves at them to stop it – Yep the whole chair breaks. But can it be fixed or do you chuck it out.
After a friend told me about the chair I said I would try to fix it for her. Time to put those lessons from Furnishing Finishing course into use.
First off all the old glue needed to be sanded or scraped off so the new glue would adhere. In a number of areas the snap wood needed to be taken off so it would fit together again. All joints were glued and clamped together.
Once that job was done a fair amount of filling was required with epoxy. Once the epoxy was dried I sanded the areas back to smooth then it was the job of touching up all those areas to get the colour looking the same.
Done.
Whoops one more thing I added corner chocks underneath to give the back legs more strength – hopefully to save from another teenager rocking on the chair and snapping it.
My client wanted a wingback chair for her formal lounge but with a contemporary look.
I managed to find this great paisley fabric with a matching stripe – she loved it. Looks fab with her other lounges which are in a dark leather.
To finish the chair off I hand polished the legs to get a warm, golden, antique look.
I always love been involved in bringing a much loved chair back to it’s glory days.
The project was a friend’s favourite chair that desperately needed a facelift – not only did she love it but the dog & cat also fought to get to sleep in it(very spoilt!!!!!)
The fabric arrived – happy days, it didn’t disappoint – fabulous pattern great to work with.
Now to work – cutting and making sure the velvet was going the right way. For some reason my dog Jed also loved the chair although I made sure he didn’t get up on it – he always found the closest spot near it.
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