Curbside Find: A set of Louis XVI French Chairs

 In a bizarre and fortunate twist of fate, there is an update to the story of how I found this

one French chair in front of someone's house waiting for the trash truck. I scooped it up and felt 

very lucky indeed.  Fast forward almost one year to the day, I was driving by the same house

and what astonishing sight to my eyes did appear??

 Four more of the chairs that matched the original curbside treasure I hauled away!

How could this be? It was truly amazing, and even though I was driving my mother in law's 

small Ford Fusion, and not my pickup truck, I lurched to the curb and jumped out.

It was tricky to stuff all four chairs into such a small car, and I was glad I didn't have the baby or any

dogs with me, as they all just barely fit.  Now they are safely ensconced in a storage trailer waiting

to be reupholstered and restored for our lake house (that has not been built yet, haha).

 So the pondering began....what did I want the chairs to look like, and what did I think 

the lake house decor would look like?  The general idea in my mind is to have it be more cottage

style than French style, so the right fabric and finish on the frame would be critical to the look.

For over a year I have been admiring the fabrics designed by Paula Arndt, of LilyOake on Spoonflower.  Paula has created a bunch of designs fit for an updated Swedish cottage look which could work perfectly.

One of my favorites is this small check in a color called faded blueberry.

I brought in a chair and taped the sample to the back. Maybe I will have a coordinating fabric

on the front of the chair with the check on the seat and the back.  Lots to think about,

and it is one of the most pleasant parts of decorating....the pondering.

To give you an idea of how it could look, take a peek at 

Ballard Designs, with a similar French chair in a painted finish

with a gingham or checked fabric.  

But gasp, look at the price!  It would cost $2296 for five chairs

finished in this fabric and finish.  Right now the base chair is on 

sale for $399, still a fortune compared to FREE on the curb and the 

cost of a yard and a half of fabric per chair.

You could pay that for a set of 6 real antique French chairs on first dibs!

These were a few of my very favorite fabrics.  I have learned over the years 

as a window treatment designer and interior decorator that checks and stripes will

always stay in favor with a homeowner over a floral or patterned fabric.

And I plan to have these chairs for a very long time....

Even so I love the Lily of the Valley pattern, as that is a flower I adore, and 

one rarely seen in fabrics and wallpaper.

So the solution is easy....put that darling pattern on a ballroom chair and 

I can have my cake and eat it too!! 

Visit Paula's beautiful Lilyoake fabric designs on Spoonflower here.

Read about the day I found the first French chair here.

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Easy Reupholstery Part 2: The back of the French Chair

This is the second part to my Easy Upholstery post for the French Chair.

As I had never upholstered before, I went about it in a different fashion,

and as usual, I try to figure out the easiest and fastest way to get a great result.

The chair looks like it came from a furniture store, when in reality it came from

an antique shop, and it was just an ugly fabric.

To Read Part One, Click Here.

When I left off, I had not finished this back panel of the chair, nor had I applied the "gimp" trim,

which is a flat braid that is used to cover up raw edges and staples.  I have had quite a few emails

inquiring was I ever going to finish the chair and post about it?  Well I did finish it, but never got

around to posting....so here is how I did it, in the easiest way possible, of course!

Measure roughly how much area you need to cover with the gimp and then go to 

a fabric shop or craft shop and select the color and style of flat braid (gimp) you think

looks best.  I picked out an off white color, but I likely would have gone for a bit darker,

but this was all they had.  This is simply applied by using a hot glue gun.  Fold over one edge

of the gimp and glue it to itself to create a finished edge on the gimp. Then simply glue

along the edge of the staples and press the gimp into position. Finish the same way,

by turning under the last part of the gimp and glueing down to hide the raw edge.   

For reference, this is the fabric as it is stapled onto the edge of the frame, 

and then trimmed back very closely.  These areas need to be covered with gimp.

I also applied the gimp around the small upholstered arm rests, 

and anywhere you could see where you had stapled the fabric to the chair frame.

For the back, there was NO place to apply staples, 

as the back panel is usually done first by the upholsterer.  But we are covering

existing upholstery...so its going to be a different approach.

( The back panel area is just a covering of fabric stretched across for a decorative purpose.

  No one sits on it, so there is no support under the backs.)

I came up with a clever way to go about it, and easy too.

A green burlap fabric was chosen for the back (you can use the same fabric as the rest of the chair, but I wanted to have something more interesting). I used some pins to place the burlap over the back and hold it in position.  Then I cut the burlap to be about 1" - 2" bigger than the back area I needed to cover.  I don't have photos to show this, because I can't find them...but its super easy.  Cut out your back fabric to be a little bit bigger than the area you will cover.  

Now you have your fabric ready to be attached....but how?

Using spray adhesive (any brand from a craft store will do), 

I sprayed the back of the chair right over the existing old fabric. 

 Then I smoothed on the burlap over the old fabric using my hands,

leaving an inch or two excess around the edges. 

Next, you have to push the excess fabric under the wood frame. 

 You may have to trim the excess fabric to less than an inch, depending 

upon how much you can push it under the frame.  

To push it under the frame I used a metal spatula.

Simply shove the fabric under the frame using the spatula to guide it under the wood frame.

Remember, you will trim around the edges with decorative trim or more gimp.

It was quick and easy and painless!  

I used a fancy trim for the back to add extra interest,

but you could certainly just use more gimp. 

 In fact you wouldn't need to add anything, because

the raw edges are hidden under the frame, but it looked unfinished to me.

Use your hot glue gun to apply the trim around the back.

 Start in a random side spot so when your starting and 

ending edges meet, its not in a super obvious place.

These chairs look good from the back as well as the front,

so that is why its fun to use a complementary fabric for the backing.

And that is how I upholstered this 1970s French Chair into something I love.

Read Part One Here

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