Eureka!  I finished the chairs!

Took me long enough.

But in my defense there were two.

I am relieved to have them done.  Turns out that upholstery might not be my favorite thing.

I managed to replace the arm patches, but don’t look too closely at my work.

It will not hold up to intense scrutiny.

I’d give you all of the details on how I did them, but you probably don’t really want to copy my work.  Look to Miss Mustard Seed for legit tutorials on upholstery.

The nice thing about these chairs is that they are totally neutral and could be dressed up with throw pillows in any color.  I’ve shown you three different options in my photos.

Despite my whining and complaining about how much work these were, I went out and purchased a claw foot antique settee on Wednesday and I’ll be jumping right back in for more upholstery work.

I know, you’re now thinking to yourself ‘what is wrong with her?’  Or perhaps it’s just me wondering about that.  Am I a glutton for punishment or what?

Well, here’s the thing.  Every year I set myself the goal of trying something new.  Last year it was stripping and waxing wood.  I had been afraid of this process for a long time, so I decided I needed to tackle it.  And as it turned out, it’s pretty easy.  Now I often strip and wax the tops of my pieces.

This year’s goal is to get a handle on upholstery.  I don’t sew, so I’ll never do any serious upholstery work, but I want to be able to tackle the basics.  I think that like anything, more practice will help me get more comfortable with it.

The beauty of this particular settee is that it won’t require any sewing.

Also, I should note that this is all the fault of my friend and Carriage House Sale co-conspirator Sue.  She just finished a fab settee herself and it inspired me to tackle one too.  I’m going to share her’s with you next week, so stay tuned!