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Thursday, November 17

Dream Skillz

Dream skill of the day (and a pretty practical one, considering my addiction) = Upholstery


That's right.  Wouldn't it be awesome to know how to reupholster furniture?  And I mean, reeeally know how. Not just stapling fabric onto a dining room chair to give it a face lift (although I've done that and it has made a HUGE difference).  Show me some springs and stuffing, people.


Most learn the trade as an apprentice and you'll find a lot of times that the skill is passed down through generations.  Biff says he's going to learn one of these days and I am all for it, but it's something I really want to know how to do too!  There are so many pieces out there that just need a little love.  For now though, I guess I'll continue to stalk Jenny on her blog Little Green Notebook.  Oh to be Jenny.  She doesn't know it, but we're blog friends and I secretly covet her craftiness. Truly, that woman is SO talented!!  One of these days I'm going to tackle an upholstery project and send it to her for her stamp of approval.  Yup.  We're destined to be friends... :)


Reupholstery is a true art form and I imagine the craftsman takes great pride when he or she adds that last piece of trim and steps back to view their masterpiece, much the way a professional makeup artist does when they apply that final touch of gloss that adds just the perfect amount of sparkle.


Check out a couple of the vintage pieces we had reupholstered to use in the den at our old house in San Gabriel.  
blue chair project
I love that blue fabric. I think it was maybe $6/yard at Michael Levine's in downtown LA.   Seriously. Aaah the fabric district in downtown LA... Now THAT is something I have surely missed. Check out the beautiful vintage sofa below too. We had a really unique space that we were decorating...a room with strange angles, a no-use nook and doors on 3 of the 4 walls. It was our lucky day when we found this petite sectional at St. Vincent de Paul thrift store; the dimensions were absolutely perfect but the sofa itself was super dirty with tears, lots of stains and worthless cushions.  We brought it home and knew that all it needed was a little tlc and of course, a brand new "party dress".  I took a trip downtown and scored a huge bolt of fabric for only $2 per yard.  I know.  When does that happen?!  I also grabbed a few yards of a basic black upholstery grade fabric for the piping and made a call to the best kept secret I know in Los Angeles.  Pedro!!!  My upholsterer truly is a miracle worker.  Maybe once we become friends I'll tell you all about him.

Before:
Den Sofa_before

And After!!
den sofa_after

Aw.  What happened to my pretty picture!?  Damn.  I hate that the "after" is so blurry.  Hmmm...Forgive me.  I am new to blogging AND a beginner at Photoshop.  See.  I told you I need to work on these skills. Or did I? Slowly but surely I'm going to figure all of this out.  Just wait till you see my crappy photography.


Oh wait. This IS my photography.  Sorry.  I'll get better...eventually.


FYI... Sadly, when we moved out of the San Gabriel house we had to part with this beauty.  We sold her to America's Next Top Model; I think they were going to use it in the crazy wanna-be-models house.  Hmmm.. I should look into that.  I wonder if it actually made it on tv?!

To date, I've paid to have 4 sofas and 4 chairs reupholstered.  I've also changed the cushions (which involved buying fabric, adding new foam & staple gun fun) on at least 12 dining chairs in my time AND sewed ghetto fabulous new (I'm talking super ghetto. "ahem, please don't sit on those; the stuffing might pop out.") cushions for my lawn chairs.

Bridgette Chambliss+Thomsen :: Self-proclaimed Reupholstery Addict

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