A while ago I bought a little french style ottoman - it was brown timber with yellow floral fabric - not a good mix in my opinion and definitely worse for wear but the shape was gorgeous and I love having a few ottomans in the lounge room for extra seating.
I'm really happy with how this turned out. I stripped off the old fabric -always the hardest part of any upholstery. I have a great little staple remover I bought in the US a few years ago. My friend who I stayed with in LA just laughed when she asked me what shops did I want to go to and I said take me to a hardware shop! The range of products in the US is just so much greater than we have here.
Once the old fabric was stripped, I vacuumed the foam (it was in perfect condition still) and painted the timber in a ASCP Paris Grey mix that I had on hand and then white washed with Pure White over the top. This really gave a nice soft finish and brought out the details of the carvings. I then gave the piece a good distressing and sealed the paint with wax.
I also used this fabric to cover an upholstered bench seat. How beautiful is this piece. It is so heavy and beautifully made. (already sold) Sasha really wanted to keep this piece and I was tempted but you know there's bills to be paid ;)
The fabric is from IKEA - Sofia fabric - a lovely thick cotton that's good for home furnishings and upholstery. I have used this fabric before for a few projects and always love it. I used it as a backdrop when I had my antiques booth. it was really effective and i just stapled it to the plywood walls. quick and easy. Looking at these photos makes me really miss having a booth. These pieces are from when I first started doing up furniture and I am still really proud of them. I really do love painting furniture and making old things pretty again.
I also have used this fabric to make a table runner for my friend. It's a really affordable, easy project.
I have another ottoman to do up for our lounge room but the upholstery is a way more difficult job so i will have to muster up some courage (piping and lots of sewing involved). I'll share it when I have finished.
yours faithfully in french furniture and stripes
Fiona xx
Hi Fiona,
ReplyDeleteYou do a really good job with painting furniture, and thanks for sharing your ideas. I just have a suggestion: when working with stripes (e.g. on your brown bench), you need to pay attention to where the stripes are positioned so that you don't end up having a white stripe on one side of the bench and a black one on the other. Find a center of the bench first, position one stripe to match that center and then work from there to the left and right.
Regards from Canada!
True but obviously not a problem as it sold immediately:)
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