I thought I'd bit off more than I could chew with this project. It was hard work, but it looks amazing!
I turned a boring tatty chair into a funky retro statement piece, upolstered in my very own 'Modern Retro' fabric.
See more of the fabric for sale on my website here. And, find the chair for sale here.
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So, my latest project was this fab Danish chair which I acquired in a very sad state, but a bit of TLC breathed a new lease of life into it and now it looks stunning!
See the process below, or pop onto my online shop if you fancy making it yours, it's for sale!
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The last two weekends have been tiring but fun. First was Midcentury Modern in Dulwich, where there were some fabulous collectable pieces of furniture to be had and where my lovingly refurbished chairs got snapped up! Then this weekend was the Vintage Furniture Flea in Bethnal Green. It's great to get out and about and meet retro and vintage lovers and to make new contacts, as well as picking up a few goodies of my own!
I also show cased my new range of fabrics and wallpaper. Images and details to hit the website this week!
Midcentury Modern Dulwich.
The Vintage Furniture Flea
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I picked up these lovely, but unloved chairs to give the
emmalovesretro treatment.
The following is a visual story of their transformation,
with a description below.
The materials I used are foam (1 or 1,5 inch thick) wadding, tacks, staples,
fire retardant calico and the final top covering of vintage fabric.
1. The first tedious task was to strip back the chairs of their original upholstery, which was a bit of a nightmare. Thousands of staples and foam that had disintergrated into powder all were stripped off an thrown away - nothing worth recycling.
2. The frames need a bit of TLC. Usually I clean the wood up a bit first but there were in great condition. All that was needed was a coat of teak oil.
3. Re-uphostering the seats and backs. Using firstly a layer of foam cut to size with about 1cm to spare then stuck with spray glue, then a layer of wadding cut to another 1 to 1.5 cm lager than the foam layer and lastly a layer of calico. I systematically stretch and tacked the calico over the frame making sure it was nice and tight and smooth. (a few nasty tack injury's received at this stage, must be more careful in future!)
4. Then the fun part, stapling the calico in place, removing the tacks and trimming the calico to about 1cm for the staples.
5. Next is the layer of vintage fabric which must be stretched and tacked in place in the same manner as the calico. Once this has been stapled and trimmed a layer of calico (with the rough edged folded under neatly) is stapled over the underside of the seat to hide the rough edges of the fabric and the seats are screwed back into place on the frames.
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