My redecoration project is at a standstill (of short duration, I hope), but here's what I have so far. First, I bought the
Duck Supreme 3 piece slipcover in natural from Surefit Slipcovers:
Originally I was going to have a slipcover made for my sofa, but, like many others these days, am trying to economize, so I thought it best to go with a less-expensive, ready-made slipcover. I am really pleased with it. Being a 3-piece, it looks more tailored than the usual ready-made slipcovers, which tend to look like a big blanket draped over the sofa.
My walls are painted cream, and I rent, so I don't want to be responsible for repainting when I move out. To give the room some color, I decided to add two sets of 24-inch throw pillows, which will be done in these fabrics:
The first is a sort of aqua colored velvet (the color is called "Spa" by the manufacturer) with taupe medallions. My eye was instantly drawn to this in the fabric store; it's such a stand-out.
The other is a nubby weave fabric that the store called "linen," but which is more like tweed. In this picture, the color is off, but in reality it goes beautifully with the velvet.
Next, I bought two antique Louis XVI chairs that I am in the process of re-upholstering:
I have stripped them of their old needlepoint fabric and replaced their stuffing, and am currently in the process of putting the new fabric on. I am using an ivory polished cotton with small embroidered dots, also in ivory. Below is a picture, but unfortunately it is of the back side of the fabric, so the dots look concave instead of convex, and the sheen of the fabric is not visible.
I have the seats of both chairs done and am working on the backs. I sort of ran out of steam on the re-upholstery of the backs so that is one reason for the hold up of the re-do. The re-upholstery turned out to be way more arduous than I had expected (don't all projects seem to be that way). I hadn't planned on replacing the stuffing, but when I got the old needlepoint fabrics off, I found this old excelsior stuffing that not only smelled really musty, but also was beginning to disintegrate. So instead of just buying new fabric and stapling it on the chairs, it turned into covering the old springs with muslin, cutting cushions out of high density foam, covering the cushions with muslin and batting, and only then stapling the fabric on the chairs. Quite honestly, just removing the old fabric was much more difficult than I expected, so I was already worn out before I had to reconstruct the seats, backs and arms. Definitely a learning experience. But I have to say, as difficult and sometimes frustrating as it was, I actually really enjoyed it. I like working with my hands, and it is so satisfying to end up with a tangible finished product.
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