Upholstered Rattan Chair and Side Table

I love being able to take a discarded (but sturdy) chair and a little table and turn them into pieces that will be loved and useful again.  There is a lot to be said for the power of paint and its ability to refresh and renew. Add in some beautiful fabric and a gazillion staples and you've got yourself an upholstered bridge chair ready for a new home.

I bought the chair very cheaply as no one wanted it in its previous state - the red velvet seat had definitely see better days and the timber needed refinishing. I forgot to take a before photo of the side table but my neighbour was sorting through a huge amount of stuff that her family was getting rid of and she knew I could do something with it so gave it to me. I thought with the similar rattan, they would make a good pair.

I painted the chair and table in a custom mix of ASCP French Linen and Paris Grey then used Porters' Paints Liming Wax to bring out the details and give a beautiful patina to the paint. It's is such lovely wax to use and gives a beautiful sheen and finish.  The day I wanted to upholster this chair I was short on time to buy fabric, so I popped up to my friends Arif and Lisa at Shady Designs and asked for some remnant fabric. Arif was very kind and gave me these two pieces. 

While I adore the fabric on the right, I felt that it overpowered the rattan and detail of the chair so I used the stripes.  I love the duck egg blue stripe. The colours go perfectly with the paint.

I have had a lot of people asking me lately about upholstery and restoring old chairs. 

My best advice is when thinking about buying old chairs is 

• Only select chairs that are in good order as unless you are a carpenter, fixing chairs is a nightmare.
• Check for wobbly loose joints, broken spindles and missing struts
• Smell the upholstery - stale smoke and cat's wee smells are not something you want to bring home!
• Check that the foam in the cushions is in good order. Foam can be expensive to replace. If you can reuse the existing cushions then that will save you money.
• Know the re-upholstery costs before you buy. Upholstery is expensive. Even if you do it yourself you will need to pay for fabric and braid. It's way more expensive to pay someone else to do it for you. Calculate the cost of doing up the chair before you go shopping so you know what you can afford to spend on the chair.
• Look at the lines of the piece. Look past the red velvet or fraying fabric. This can be replaced.
• Sit in the chair - is it comfortable? 
• Learn to do basic upholstery to save yourself the cost of paying someone else to do this. 
• Buy yourself a good staple gun and you will easily be able to recover simple chairs. 
• When removing the old fabric try not to rip it so you can use it as a template for the new fabric.
• Once the old fabric is removed, check the batting, foam and springs, repair as necassary. 
• When the chair is stripped, paint or refinish the frame as desired. Unless you are very neat, I wouldn't recommend painting the frame while it's still upholstered.

I hope those hints help - or if you live in Sydney, you can always hire me for your projects!  The chair and table are available for sale. Please email me (see comments below)

What do you think, do you like the stripes on the chair? Did I make the right choice?

Fiona xx

other chair upholstery posts can be found here:
Easy upholstering of a french louis chair

DIY Woven Upholstery on a French Chair

French Chair Upholstery