REcovered

For those of you who, like me, are still too poor to have a house/apartment full of your own furniture and have a grand collection of hand-me-downs and yard sale finds--there lies hope!

i had at my apartment in auburn, a sofa and chair that belonged to my grandmother since the 50s. they both survived children, grandchildren, smokers, art projects, and pets. the beautiful cream upholstery had turned yellow, there were stains, and a fine hybrid fragrance of old people and dog. even still i was absolutely in love with both of them. when it came time to move down to florida, i had to make the tough call to donate the sofa and keep the chair. after a very hurting REJECTION from the salvation army (i mean really, they do that??) my mom and i dumped it at the garden district apartments (not nearly as lovely as they sound) in hopes that it would at least gather beer spills and dna (as my mom says) at some party house. i can only hope...

so i still have the chair. upon learning of the fantastic designer discounts offered from upholstery manufacturers, i decided to take the financial leap of reupholstery. the chair is a family heirloom, it would cost more to replace--it just made the most sense. architex offers a 50% discount to designers on top of their already good prices (find a designer if you're not one and tell them to buy you some fabric--upholstery shops will snactch up your pocketbook fast!) thanks to the amazing work of pettus upholstery here in pensacola, my chair is as good as new. see for yourself:

before

after! [disclaimer: this is a camera phone shot. my digital is jacked up. and yes that's a dog toy on the ground.]

little bit of a detail shot for you. the brass nailheads were a last minute idea. and i love them!!

FYI: the upholstery is architex, corinthian: westchester. the buttons (which i'm contemplating adding another row) are anzea, exotiqua: snapdragon and my only disapppointment. i thought they'd make more of a statement. it almost makes me wish i'd done the whole chair in alligator, but i'm still happy.

to give you an idea on price: 7yds of fabric cost me $100. the upholstery job including reupholstery, all new foam, and nailheads was $400. a new chair like that would have cost double that if not more. it left me poor, but that chair will be in the family for generations to come.

a little warning about faux leathers though, especially if you have aminals. my dogs sat on it after i put on their flea treatment and the oil got on the fabric and left a mark. its not very noticeable and i'm sure a pillow can cover it, but it was still disappointing. they don't run tests for flea treatment resistance!