Reupholstery Project: After

I LOVE do-it-yourself projects and before and after photos, don't you??  Even if you wouldn't do it the same way, it's always fun and inspiring to see how someone else transformed a piece of furniture or a space in their home into something new!  

Here is the first post on this project, and here is my before photo of our comfy armchair with its sad (and kind of gross, to be honest) no-longer-white upholstery.  

For tackling a reupholstery project like this one, you'll need a few basic tools around.  For simpler jobs like dining room chairs, stools and headboards, you won't need a sewing machine, but for anything more complicated like armchairs and sofas, a basic model will do fine.  Buy some upholstery tacks from any hardware store, and everything else you probably already have at home!

What you'll need: 

a flathead screwdriver for prying out those old nails, 

a basic staple gun and staples,

pliers, needle nose and round,

your new best friend, the sewing machine:),

a curved needle, critical for those hand-sewn parts,

upholstery tacks,

and fabric.  And that's it! You're ready to go.  

I ended up choosing an indoor outdoor fabric by Waverley in their Sun N Shade line called Chippendale Fretwork for this project. I bought it online and had my sweet Dad mail it to me here in Austria (I still don't know where to go fabric hunting in Vienna! Shameful).  I love trellis fabrics, so this was my chance to use some, but I wanted a neutral color in case we take this chair with us to the next house.

Since I was working on this project on evenings and days off from my full time job, it took me longer than it would now that I'm working from home and am more flexible with my time.  But still, for such a big project--and considering that it was my first time doing something like this-- I think it went pretty quickly!  All in all it maybe took me three weeks.  It's hard work, I'm not going to lie, but I have never been so proud of myself and had such a sense of accomplishment than after reupholstering this chair.  

I hope you're inspired to DIY!

Liza