It only took 5(ish) years?

Once upon a time, I found a chair someone was trying to throw away. It was in bad shape, but it had good bones and a great design. So, I took it.  I ripped off all the fabric and removed the stuffing. There were a couple layers of failed paint which I scraped off, sanded meticulously, stained a beautiful cherry and gave it numerous coats of polyurethane.  

Sanded & Stained

I used to study my flash cards for Art History while working on this project. Unfortunately, school took up a majority of my time and the upholstery aspect was put on hold...for years.  I've been dragging this chair (as well as another) around from state to state, apartment to apartment, waiting to find the perfect fabric and/or the time to finish it.

Wesley

My life has undergone some major changes the past couple of months.  I am trying to streamline things, get rid of the clutter and chaos.  It was time for this thing to be finished.  Wesley (sister's dog above) didn't always cooperate, he would perch on my batting, eat the foam stuffing, or simply keep bumping me with his nose until I stopped what I was doing and gave him attention.

Springs!

I enjoy taking on projects and figuring out how to create something. I'll look at pictures, research online and get a basic enough concept so I can just wing it.  The zig zag springs needed to be replaced, so I had ordered them online (years ago, I've also been carrying these around), bought some heavy duty cutters and replaced all the springs.  I borrowed the helical springs from a different chair waiting to be refinished, and after much frustration and pinched fingers, I got it cooperate with me.  I know this may not be the correct version of upholstery, but it works well enough for me.

silver brads

The finished product isn't ideal, but it was definitely a learning process. I added some silver brads for detail, it's a nice contrast against the peridot colored suede. I'm not a huge fan of measuring and the stupid brads kept bending as I hammered them so some are a little off.  A bit annoying, but I'll just tell people it adds character.

It makes me happy

Very off center brads, I fixed a couple of them so they aren't as bad