Help Design This Chair

I love a good chair. Seriously, I love chairs more than most people. A chair tells a story like no other piece of furniture. The shape of a leg, the perfectly worn wood arm rests, a tear in the upholstery. Throughout history, the chair has been a relic of the era in which it was created. 

So you can imagine when I see a chair, it is like shoe shopping/collecting. Too bad that chairs take up much more room and they are hard to hide from my husband. This definitely puts a limit on my chair hoarding collecting. 

There always is the other option: renting out a storage unit? Hmmm...

This summer I wrangled up a few items that would keep me busy for the winter months. I found this chair at a thrift store. I stalked it a few times before dragging it to the cashier. The chair in one hand, a diaper bag flung over my shoulder and a baby in a car seat carrier dangling off my arm like a bracelet. 

What a sight!

I knew the chair had good bones. Take a look at her! The upholstery wasn't that offensive however, it had must have been from a home with smokers because it wreaked. Even after an upholstery cleaning, there was no saving this vintage fabric. 

      

Fast forward 8 months.....I am finally ready to take off the old upholstery and see what this chair is really made from. It turns out that the construction is very well done. I hated to sand down the natural wear on the wood but I really wanted to see the chair with the wood in a more raw state.

Curiosity killed the cat but thankfully this chair is getting a new life.

I decided to keep the straw batting and the original fiber batting because the chair has the most comfortable seat. I didn't want to change the feel of the chair by removing the original batting.

After staring at the chair with raw wood legs for two days, I decided to take a leap and paint the wood white. I covered the batting with newsprint so that the paint would not drip. I experimented with a few paints first. The best for all the nooks and crannies is semi-gloss white spray paint. It dried beautifully and there was virtually no drip marks on the chair.

I decided to add a little organic cotton batting in addition to the original batting so I just placed that directly on top of the seat. I also placed a small square on the back rest.
You can see the wood painted white in this image. I am starting to really love the look.

The chair actually has taken on a raw quality with all of its' insides exposed. I am tempted to keep it like this.....

This is the back of the chair. In this image you can see the original brown batting which is filled with various fabric and wood pulp. The whiter batting is the new organic cotton batting I added. The burlap webbing strap is shown here. I just love burlap. I seriously do not think I want to reupholster this chair. It is so cool on the inside.

I decided at the minimum I need to upholster the seat and chair back. I grabbed a roll of muslin to upholster the chair before I choose the outer upholstery fabric. This will give me the option of change the upholstery at a later date without worrying about disturbing the batting. It will also buy me some time so I can decide which fabric to use. Lastly, it will provide extra layer just incase I choose a lighter weight fabric instead of upholstery grade.

Here is where the chair stands as of this moment. Ready to be dressed but I am at a standstill. I am at a face-off with my fabrics.

I am really stuck now. I have beautiful options for this chair which is half the problem. Many are from the John Robshaw sample sale last week.

Didn't you know? In case you missed it, I will let you know when the next one is taking place.

So I open the forum, cast your vote. Throw your two sense into the mix. Send me your suggestions!