the chair saga continued….

The sofa arrived and joined the funky set of chairs in the gallery, extending a new warmth and style to the room.  Makes for the perfect spot to take in the music, read a book, or catch up on some conversation with a friend. 

Every detail was tended to by Ricardo, my meticulous upholsterer, from the fabric to the buttons.  Even under the cushions you'll find fabric covered buttons lining the linen seating platform.

So remember the sad state of affairs regarding this caned set - a chair, rocker, and sofa?  Well I took the leap and purchased the set, with plans to strip and recane them, then refinish the wood.  Meanwhile, I went on the hunt for fabrics, narrowing the field to some colorful tapestries, textured velvets, fringe and braid in shades of magenta, ochre, and kiwi.

That task complete, I sat down with my dear friend MarCelia, my sketches and swatches in hand, to discuss the best way to bring my mid-century, Parisian vision together for these pieces.  She lent her expertise and knowledge regarding the construction of quality seating, and together we articulated a plan.

We both agreed the cushions would have to be of spring and down construction - not simply foam.  Despite the increased cost, the difference would be noticeable, and the cushions sturdy and comfy.  With a woven web of canvas to support them, the seating would envelope you like a setting in a Proust novel.

Between the two of us and Ricardo, we scoured the internet for reasonably priced spring forms and bags of down.  

Stacks of spring forms await, knitted together in groups.  Three will fit side by side for the sofa's bench cushion, with one each for the chair and the rocker.  They'll be surrounded by 1" foam, then wrapped top and bottom with a pillow of down, so they can be flipped to either side.

A trip back to the refinishers, and I find the wood stripped and sanded down, exposing mahogany wood and detailing that was barely noticeable before.  I spent some time with Gary experimenting with finishes and settled on a black mahogany, hand-rubbed stain.





















The stain takes deeply to the back side of the caning, but leaves the inside with a bit of radiant gold showing through.  Perfect, I thought, with the fabric selections I had decided upon.  A satin-finish clear coat will finish the three pieces, and they'll be ready for the upholster.  

I picked up the fabric detailing samples from Ricardo, eager to see how the detailing would look on the cushions, and how they would go with the stained wood.  The Parisian carpet bag, shabby chic look I was after was evident, and with a few minor changes, gave my approval to go ahead.

"the down and feather envelope is a messy process :)" said Ricardo in a text this afternoon, "I look like a big turkey."   This I'd like to see!

The completed sofa, mid-century Parisian, carpet-bagger style

Tafetta rucking across the band adds texture, color, and a bit of a surprise

Coordinating sofa and chair

Rocker is trimmed gold fringe, with a band of checkered velveteen

The chair in striped velveteen with a pleated band in a contrasting stripe

chairs, chairs, and more chairs….

It all started with this sofa...

A client of mine decided it was time to part with this much loved family piece, and never one to let a good, solid, vintage seating accommodation slip by, I volunteered to pick it up and take it home.  My grandmother Stella honed my appreciation of well-constructed, older pieces, scouring yard sales and haunting local auctions for her favorite goose neck rockers.  My first apartment won the fruits of her labor that summer - a heavy, overstuffed, horsehair sofa covered in wine velveteen, and a rose brocade chair of the same vintage.  The sofa is long gone, as we had to cut the legs off it to get it out of that apartment when we moved (how did we get it in??), but the chair sits recovered in my office.  Anyway, I digress...

The sofa sent me in search of some funky, comfortable chairs to pair with it, the plan being to have the pieces recovered to begin replacing the furniture we've had in the gallery since we opened.  Those chairs came from Dr. White's old office waiting room when he moved, and they've served me well.  But time for a change.  One word to my favorite upholsterer, Ricardo, and he had several pairs of chairs for me to choose from.  This pair seemed funky and fun, and I could envision them, and eclectic balance to my  sofa.

Next the search for fabric… and again thanks to Ricardo, I found there were several good outlets and discount fabric sources closer than my usual visit to the Philadelphia Design Center (and far less expensive too!)  The trick is to go without too many predeterminations about what you are looking for, and wait for something to strike my fancy, catch my eye, or otherwise, get my attention.  Then, start looking for natural counterparts to finish out the selections.

Mocha brown and haystack gold?  Not exactly what I had in mind, but with the purply hue, the mix of pattern, proportion, and texture, I fell for this combo.  The fabric on the left is for the sofa, the pattern on the right for the front of the chairs, and the chenille brown solid for the back of the chairs and the buttons.  So what would really take those chairs up a notch, but to detail the piping in a taupe leather and add some brass tacks along the chair arms to accent the curves.

Just right!

Here is a photo of my chairs in progress, re-stuffed, with the seats rebuilt, and the piping underway.  

Brass tacks begun… I'm loving this!

Meanwhile, I'm still on my mission for more potential seating I can rehab for the gallery.  Since much of my design work, is about repurposing, putting redone pieces in the gallery seems fitting.  Now I've found a meticulous furniture refinisher too, and he just happened to have this trailer in the back of this shop full of old wooden and upholstered pieces he's collected over the years.  The chairs just kept coming, and then….

I totally fell in love with this pair - a caned lounge and a rocker - this would be my next project.  All I needed now was a sofa.  "What?"  I said, "you have a sofa to match?"  

Wow!  Can't wait to go fabric shopping again.  I have these vintage Parisian visions of Madeleine Castaing and her warehouse full of old chairs - she wasn't afraid of vibrant color, mixing patterns and details, and her rooms came alive.  The best part?  I get to be my own guinea pig, push the envelope, and try some new things.

First delivery - a pair of re-imagined chairs!

First delivery - a pair of re-imagined, re-built chairs!  Looking forward to sofa delivery in a week or two….