This relationship started casually enough. I developed a case of spring fever and began a quest for the perfect, trend-forward fabric for an upholsterer to work his or her magic on as a replacement for the factory issued, cream-coloured coverings on my dining room chairs.
I considered a rainbow of options. Yellow popped against my neutral furnishings but it just didn’t feel right, even in a pale shade. Red had been my standby accessory hue for several years but it was time to break that habit. Greens were too earthy, true blues seemed too cold. After unsuccessfully digging through hundreds of bolts in several stores, I finally found a beautiful cotton material quite by chance on Ebay.
Its retro pattern of broken, blue and brown half-circles encased within squares appealed to my self-diagnosed “circle sickness”. I’ve been known to grow a bit weak in the knees in the presence of accessories bearing round or swirling decorations. The Scotch guarded fabric had a cream background, which lent itself perfectly to the browns and creams of the furniture already in the living room adjacent to the dining area. The pattern would infuse some much-needed excitement into the calm approach I’d taken to my décor. It flashed back to the 1970’s but looked right in fashion at the same time and I eagerly clicked my way to owning several metres of it. I threw a couple of matching, ready-made throw pillows into my order, too.
In the flesh, the material didn’t disappoint. Despite its throwback look, it had a bit of stretch and enough weight to make it durable enough to endure various spills and the squirmy behinds of impatient dinner guests. I laid it on the seat of one of the captains’ chairs and complimented myself on my impressive find. Against my brown leather couch, one of the new throw pillows brought out the blue of the sky in the print hanging on the wall above.
On a whim, I googled instructions for recovering dining chairs. Hundreds of hits came up complete with step-by-step photographs. Who knew it was so easy? A solid fabric was recommended for first-timers but I had confidence to burn and decided to give it a try on my own with my patterned find.
The chair bottoms unscrewed from the cherry wood frames with ease and the original fabric fell away from them like tissue paper. Its low thread count was obvious on close inspection and my decision to replace it proved sound. Lining up the circle pattern upside down on the seat took some planning and double and triple checking but the task was well within my capabilities. Patience was the key to keeping the fabric tight and properly folded at the edges. Hiring out could not have matched the satisfaction I felt from doing a proper job on my own.
The finished chairs looked magnificent and best of all, I knew I would never see a similar scheme in another home. It was all mine.
When that house sold, the new owners insisted on purchasing the dining suite. I reluctantly agreed but packed away the matching throw pillows like a rat saving cheese. However, as the movers pulled into the driveway, I decided to leave the pillows behind in their rightful home. Now chocolate brown and sky blue compliment my furnishings in new cushions and accessories and I’ve even used them as feature colours on my new website. True love never really ends.