Brenda's Second Chair

If you read this post, then you will remember that I was given two chairs for reupholstering. They once belonged to a lady called Brenda. The first chair, a 1940s utility chair was very successful, so I decided to rejuvenate the second smaller chair too.

I'm not sure of the age of this chair but I would guess it is probably a 1950s nursing or bedroom chair. It arrived with this fab retro stretch nylon loose cover on, which I rather like actually!

But underneath the roses, its true colours were not quite so fetching...

And even though Mowgli took to the chair in its original state, I decided a funky makeover was in order. After three months of intensive beauty treatment, it looks like this:

Much prettier, I think. In fact, far too nice for downstairs where pussy Mowgli and doggy Rosie can get their paws, (and claws) on it, so it now resides in my bedroom.

Poor one-eyed Ted sits guard, (Rosie ate his other eye), in case a certain black cat thinks its a scratching post.

I'm really pleased with the result. The fabric is a wonderful wavy ribbed velvet called 'Racine' by Designers Guild, which was an absolute steal on eBay! Beautiful to work with but not so easy to photograph because of the sheen. I think the last photo shows the design well but the colour is much richer.

I am now working on a matching pair of 1980s french style armchairs. They are quite a challenge. I'll tell you all about it soon.

Thank you too for all the lovely comments on my last post. It is lovely to hear from you and comforting to know that so many of you share my thoughts about our children moving on to pastures new. 

Brenda's Chair Revisited

Some of you may remember one of my posts from last year when I revealed my latest creative venture / adventure - upholstery. Well the love affair is still going strong and I am on my fourth project, but I realised the other day when I was merrily stripping, (a chair, not me), that I never gave an update on Brenda's chair. So this is what it used to look like:

Brenda was a very close family friend of my Brother-in-Law's, and when she passed away last year, he, together with her son and my Sister had the task of clearing her home of all her worldly possessions; a sad  and depressing task for anyone. They very kindly gave me this chair, and another later chair, to reupholster. I say they gave it to me but it has such history that I feel more like a custodian than the owner! But I was very excited about the prospect of rejuvenating this piece. So I took it along to the workshop.

And this is what it looked like half way through:

The chair caused much excitement amongst my fellow upholsterers because it was a genuine 'Utility' chair. Utility furniture was produced during and just after the Second World War when materials were scarce. The furniture was supplied under strict rationing to newly-weds or those people whose homes had been destroyed by the bombings. Many of the styles were Arts and Crafts inspired, which was what attracted me to this chair - the lovely lines of the arms, without getting too technical or arty, they are almost organic! So, as you can imagine, I had second thoughts about interfering with this little bit of history, but the original fabric was very poor. I tried to retain as many of the interior bits as possible but a few things were beyond repair after seventy years of wear and tear.  I had to replace the cushion completely because it  had lost all its bounce, but the main body of the chair was in fairly good condition. I used a lovely natural linen mix fabric from Laura Ashley  called Lilacs for my top covering, and natural calico underneath.

Anyway, I am very pleased with the finished product. After the initial embarrassment of my 1970s bedroom stool, Brenda's chair was a triumph!

This is the replacement cushion, complete with piping which I made myself.






And this is Brenda's Chair now...

 
My Cat, Mowgli, loves it and I think Brenda would approve too.

Sue Tries Very Hard

I've fallen behind in blogland. I had intended to publish a post at least once a week, but I'm afraid life has been pulling me away from the trusty old iMac that I  usually work on and filling my time with all sorts of other seemingly more pressing things.

So I have been playing catch-up today. I've been reading some of the excellent posts of fellow bloggers and I've been stirred into action.
In particular, over at sixty one A, Kirsty's tale, from 29 September, about her old stool, made me decide to dust off the following post I started writing the day before Kirsty published hers and share it with you. So here goes:

For several years, I have fancied trying my hand at upholstery and on a particularly gloomy day at the end of August, I took the plunge and enrolled online for a local course.

The blurb for the course said to take along 'your own manageable piece of furniture'. So I decided to take a dressing table stool that had been left behind by a previous owner at our last home. It was small, easily portable and a good starting point for my new skill.

The stool had really tacky brown velour upholstery  with buttons, but very pretty legs and, I thought, the potential to become a thing of beauty - or at least more attractive than its original 1970s appearance.  

The course is very local, just a short walk, so I carried my stool to the class and proudly walked in on the first morning. My pride soon became embarrassment when I looked around to see that I was surrounded by ladies brandishing beautiful antique armchairs in varying degrees of undress.  I felt like I had arrived at my new school, knowing nobody and wearing the wrong uniform.

The tutor, a lovely lady called Renee, was very kind and chose not to comment on the pitiful sight of my lowly stool, as we went through the formality of introductions. "You'll need foam and a staple remover" was the only comment she passed. I could tell by her eyes that my stool was a disappointment to her and I already had the picture in my mind of my end of term report with that all encompassing comment: "Sue tries very hard."

I could have just discreetly left the room then, made my excuses and legged it . But well, I am nothing if not brazen, so I decided to do the decent thing and open the floodgates for the anti-70's velour stool brigade, and started ripping the poor thing apart, literally.

And in less than fifteen minutes, my stool was in pieces - several pieces. Did they use wood in the construction of furniture during the Seventies? Judging by the composite parts of my stool, I guess not.

Update: This is Brenda's chair, the stool was set aside and this piece of 1940's history is in the process of being transformed. I'll tell you more about it in a future post.