Stripping Old Upholstery, Rebuilding Seats and Reupholstering: Ginger’s Chair & Ottoman Play-by-Play

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You guys…I am in love with this chair and ottoman. Seriously. But before I show you the finished product, let me first tell you about its meager beginnings with me.

When Ginger text me a picture of this chair, it definitely looked like it needed some love…in form of a completely rebuilt seat. When she dropped it off, she told me she had picked it up at a garage sale; the man she bought it from had tried to upholster it himself, but he suspected it was at least 60 years old (and he hadn’t bothered with the seat at all). This is the beginning of a verrry interesting story the chair began to tell me as I stripped back the original upholstery…

Let’s start here: the before. A collapsed seat and a chair entirely upholstered with tacks (i.e. abnormal). And the dust cover on the ottoman was hangin’ a mess. Not sure how or why, but it was. And, this may be something that only I pay attention to, but when you’re working with a pattern, you want it to be centered and/or at least line up with other parts of the furniture. I think, if all of these stripes lined up, the end result would have been much more impressive and aesthetically pleasing.

As I started to work the fabric off of the ottoman, I quickly realized that the previous owner had simply upholstered OVER the “original” upholstery. And then…THEN, I noticed what it was stuffed and padded with.

Let’s zoom in here, shall we? Hay. That’s hay in there. The stuff that horses eat. I’ve found some interesting things in furniture (lost sewing needles, anyone?), but never hay. That’s the stuff I only read about. “Congratulations,” I told myself, “you’re a REAL upholsterer now…”

I quickly texted Ginger about my discovery (after thanking the Lord that I don’t suffer from allergies!) and made sure she was OK with me stripping it all clean and starting fresh. She was. So, I pressed on to the hundreds of tiny little gold staples (is that what they used in the 70s?).

As I started pulling off the green, I noticed strands from other fabrics that must have graced the furniture previously–in blue and red. So, by my estimations, this was at least the fifth time this furniture (or at least the ottoman) has been reupholstered!

Did I mention I was grateful I don’t suffer from allergies? My husband would be a goner if he got anywhere near MOST of the furniture I upholster.

Once I had the ottoman stripped clean, I moved on to the chair. Yep, also stuffed with hay. Also: fun fact…you don’t use the jute webbing with black stripes for seats as it’s not strong enough to take the abuse in the long run. Always use jute webbing with the red stripes for seats. Save the black for arms (like inside of a wingback) or seat backs. Exhibit A: black striped jute…collapsed seat.

At the end of day one, I had completely clean frames (halelujah!), ready for rebuilding. If you’re doing this yourself, here’s another great place to stop and look over the frame itself. Watch out for weak/loose joints, cracks in the frame, rotting wood, etc. Any one of those things and you’ll need to spend some time with the frame itself. Or, you may decide it’s not worth it. Either way, know that this is your foundation; if it’s not strong, it won’t matter how well you upholster it.

Fortunately for me, Ginger and this chair, this frame was in perfect condition. Unbelievable condition for being 60 years old. The most it had going against it was the hundreds of staple holes from being upholstered so many times.

Day two: rebuilding the seat! First, the jute webbing (remember: red for seats!).

Then, the foam…

Then, the cotton…

Then, the actual upholstery.

Repeat process on ottoman…

And FINALLY…the finished product! You can see why I’m in love here, right?! Ginger is a photographer here in Wichita and there’s already been talk of using the ottoman in a newborn shoot. Killer. A piece of me goes with every upholstery job, but this one is really special, and I think it’s the ottoman that puts it over the top for me.

I know…incredible, right? I asked Ginger if I could keep it and she said only if I stayed in Wichita…temping, friend.

Ginger was given my name and number by a mutual friend who heard she needed someone to upholster a bench back in Deeember. So, this is actually the second upholstery job I’ve done for Ginger! Be on the lookout for the blog post about her bench–she found it in a dumpster and it was missing a leg, so she ordered a replacement leg (ha!) and is waiting for it to arrive, and then will snap some “after” pictures for us! (Mine are just of a legless bench sitting on the ground, haha!) Ginger is SO sweet and we were fast friends AND she’s so talented. If you’re looking for a photographer in the Wichita area, Ginger would be so great to work with!

 

Thrifted Coffee-Table-Turned-Ottoman Gets an Update!

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Do you guys remember when I turned my $20 thrift store coffee table into an ottoman a couple of summers ago? If not, let’s refresh our memories.

When I finished college and moved to Kansas City to start my first “big girl” job at an ad agency, I didn’t have much in the way of furniture. OR much money. That’s where thrifting became a huge part of my life (and subsequently, the current content of this blog). When it comes to thrifting furniture, it MUST be solid wood. I can’t claim I’ve never bought a rickety chair, but it was ALL wood, goshdangit.

So, I found this coffee table for $20 one day and brought it home (in my tiny little 2-door ’99 Honda Civic!). I lived with and used it for quite awhile (over a year) before attempting to change anything about it. I never really loved it, but I wasn’t going to change it until I thought of something I could do that I did love. If you remember the story (or just read through the old blog post, linked above), you’ll know that one day I DID figure out what to do and I was inspired out of my mind. I’ll quote my old post here…

When I moved to Kansas City (two years ago this past Monday!), I didn’t own a coffee table. In classic Alina fashion, I stalked Goodwill until a decent one showed up. It was solid wood and heavy as all get out (a requirement for me to buy a piece of furniture from Goodwill. It MUST be solid wood. Pressed wood and particle board make me shudder). It was in pretty good shape with only some minor wear and tear on the top, it was mostly modern/clean looking, it was simple and it was marked for $20. But I didn’t love it. I never have. It’s just kind of…blah. Nothing inspiring about it, you know? And I don’t like to be surrounded by things that stump my inspiration.  (Additionally, the lip around the edge makes it painful to rest your feet on since it cuts into the backs of your ankles. No bueno!) I’ve toyed with the idea of painting it, stripping and re-staining it (to take care of the damage on top), and I’ve even thought about tiling the top with some kind of glass tile. But none of it really struck my fancy.

Enter Pinterest. There I was, sinking deeper into the abyss, when I saw this: [enter picture from Pinterest of a DIY-ed tufted ottoman]

I stopped everything and immediately straightened up from my slumped position (I might have even stopped breathing for a second). I looked at the blog post behind the pin, looked at my coffee table, looked at the picture, looked at my coffee table. And the biggest light bulb to date arose above my head. I immediately pinned it, “DIY Tufted ottoman…yes, I will!!!”
And yes, I did. Within five days, I had started this project with no intention of stopping.

And LONG story short, that’s how that^ coffee table became the below ottoman.

Now…fast-forward a couple of years. Overall, the ottoman is still in good shape. It’s sustained many a dirty shoe, stinky sock, entire cups of spilled coffee (itwasntme), wet dogs, being used as a make-shift couch between weekend moves back and forth from KC to Wichita last year, holding pilesandpilesandpiles of stuff, and more. Really, I could not have asked for this ottoman to be in such great condition after all we’ve put it through.

But, it was beginning to show some wear, in form of sagging, loose fabric. I had been noticing it for awhile, but didn’t think about updating it until Saturday morning.

I had just finished with Ginger’s chair the night before and was still swooning every time I looked at it. I wanted something fun, too! All of the sudden, those wrinkles and sagging fabric were a bigger issue than ever before.

And when that inspiration hit, it hit fast and hard. I mentioned it to Cowboy…”I’m thinking about reupholstering this ottoman…” I said into the morning quiet. “Mmhmm, OK,” he said, without looking up from his computer screen and coffee.

And, just like that, a sly smile crept onto my face. My mind started racing…”but what colors, what kind of fabric? Why did I choose this weird, gray microsuede? Oh, yes, it was on clearance. I need real upholstery-weight fabric this time. Maybe in black and white? Maybe a fun color and pattern like Ginger’s chair?”

And like a flash, I was out the door to go check out all of the local fabric shops to see what would strike my fancy.

Aaand, three fabric stores and two hours later, I was still empty-handed, unsure and uninspired.

One thing my mom taught me was to always have neutral furniture than can be updated with pillows and throws. I wanted to like a bold print & color combo, but I just couldn’t commit. Later that afternoon, I was back home and I remembered one of my favorite pieces of furniture. The Erin chair from World Market.

VIA

 So I took it to the mattresses went digging for fabric scraps in my studio and to see how much canvas dropcloth I had in stock (yes, the kind you buy at your local home improvement store…it’s what I make my grocery bags out of).

I had plenty of dropcloth (furniture looks great upholstered in it! It’s a durable and is a superdupercheap alternative to upholstery-weight linen). And within a few minutes, I had picked out enough scraps to recover the buttons and was pulling out all of the staples.

To recover the buttons (and this is totally and completely NOT professional, nor how I would do someone else’s piece of furniture…but it was for me and it was free and it worked, so it won out):

1) I cut out all of my circles (using the template that I still had from the first time I covered the buttons) from scraps.

2) Using the plastic button-covering kit that comes with the buttons, I placed the fabric wrong-side-up on top of the plastic piece, placed the button on top of that…

3) Pushed it all into the plastic piece, ran a line of hot glue around the back of the button…

4) …and pushed the fabric down.

5) Voilá…recovered buttons.

And then came the tufting and upholstering! I started working on this when Cowboy left to hang out with his brother for the evening. And it was back in the living room, finished, by the time he got home at 11.

Best part? It was F-R-E-E! I used dropcloth and fabric scraps and buttons I already had. And well, I do this for a living, so I obviously had plenty of button tufting twine and cotton to pad the sides with. If I had to count up the materials I would have bought though, it might add up to $10. Maybe.

Amazing, right? I’m so glad I spent my Saturday night updating it. I realized while I was working on it that it was literally the only thing in my house that I had upholstered. Consequently, anytime someone was over and found out what I “do” and asked to see some of my work, it was the only thing I could point to. And, while it was just fine, it was my first-ever upholstery job. It did need to be brought up to current “standards,” just like a graphic designer would update their business card as they gained more experience.

So let’s see the lifetime of this coffee table all together now…

Worth the $80 I’ve now invested into this coffee table/ottoman, right?!

I try to not work-work on the weekends, but do projects for us instead. It keeps me inspired and fresh. Other times, I just need a rest and spend the weekend hanging out with awesome people.  What did you guys do this weekend?

Mellisa & Benjamin~ Sneak Peek

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     Mellisa and Benjamin have chosen to be married on the shores of Lake Tahoe. With Heavenly Valley high above them, they will exchange vows during their wedding ceremony on the beach at Edgewood Country Club.
     Edgewood offers one of the finest Lake Tahoe ceremony and wedding reception locations, with two large reception rooms from which to choose. Mellisa and Benjamin have chosen the South Room for their celebration following their lakeside ceremony. With their closest family and friends surrounding them, their married life together will begin. What a happy day!     


We are so excited for Mellisa and Benjamin and look forward to their wedding day with great anticipation! It has been an honor assisting them with their pre-wedding preparations  and anxiously await that special day when they say "I do!"
For additional information on Edgewood Country Club weddings, contact Lake Tahoe's finest wedding coordination professional;Liane McCombs Wedding & Event Planning775.786.1730lianemccombs@gmail.comVoted Northern Nevada's #1 Wedding Coordination Company!

Rebecca & Michael~Sneak Peek

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The Mountain Terrace is a stunning outdoor and indoor venue in Woodside, California to host your wedding. You can experience your ceremony in the grassy meadow that boasts bay views peeking through a redwood grove. Dining outdoors on the expansive redwood deck allows your reception guests to take in the breathtaking views at The Mountain Terrace.

As an alternative, the rustic beauty of the country-style lodge provides the backdrop for a cozy and intimate reception.
It is here, settled among the redwoods and eucalyptus trees, where Rebecca and Michael will be married. They have a terrific day planned, including an outdoor ceremony, and a buffet dinner on the terrace. Later, guests are invited indoors to enjoy music, and continuing reception elements including the cake cutting and bouquet toss.

It has been our pleasure to assist Rebecca and Michael, as they have planned for this day for a very long time. We are thrilled to be there with them as they begin this new adventure in their lives.

For Mountain Terrace wedding coordination;Liane McCombs Wedding & Event Planning775.786.1730lianemccombs@gmail.com Voted Northern Nevada's #1 Wedding Coordination CompanyServing all of Northern Nevada and California