Before and After - My Own Parade

The thrill I get from transforming old and/or dated upholstered furniture that has good bones and potential (and often saves it from the trash heap) is the reason I do what I do - it certainly isn't a great way to earn a lot of money! I also hope that I can inspire others to do the same. Instead of buying new (often/usually inferior quality) furniture, invest your time in finding and refurbishing heirloom quality pieces - just make sure the quality of construction is there. That includes primarily woodwork and frames that are in good shape and well-constructed foundations in seating platforms (hand-tied 8-way coil springs are the best).

In the name of giving away all of my secrets, here are some recent "before and after" photos with original source information. It's not magic but it does take time and effort - maybe there is a little magic involved!

This great chair (sold) came from one of my favorite estate sale sellers - Vicki - and was reupholstered in a great ikat gold/yellow print. 

This chair was one of two bought from someone on Craigslist - this one was not even listed. I asked if she had any more and here it was and well-constructed too! The fabric is a heavy woven cotton-combination and the woodwork was refinished with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in off-white. I only redid the legs because the original finish was badly chipped. 

This set of club chairs (with matching ottomans on casters) was being sold at a garage sale for a song - they were manufactured by Century Furniture (great construction). I had them reupholstered in a cream damask and they are now sold.

This chaise lounge (hidden amongst a lot of junk) came from the same garage sale as the chairs above and was better constructed than the average chaise with the hand-tied coil springs in the foundation.  It is already living in Florida! 

I love the nice lines on this Italian-made French style chair. The woodwork was in perfect condition and I had a small piece of wonderful cream-on-cream crewel (very high end - costly) available. The chair was bought at an estate sale. 

This chair  which may in fact be a real antique but I had no way of verifying was listed on craigslist and I bought it as well as the striped blue chair above. It was upholstered in a gold damask - slightly formal - and has sold. It is on its way to Asheville, NC. 

There were two of these chairs covered in different fabrics in different rooms at an estate sale. The prices were over a $100 apart which I pointed out to the seller. He sold them to me for the lower of the two prices. The woodwork was in rough condition but I might have redone it anyway since I wanted a painted finish. 

This set of slipper chairs was purchased at another one of Vicki's estate sales - the bones were great but the old fabric was very poorly applied. This new fabric is a pale taupe and cream combination woven - very neutral in appearance.

This lovely vintage settee was purchased at a neighborhood garage sale - the kind that you walk from home to home checking out the goods. The original fabric was actually a mohair (very costly) velvet but just not in great shape. The new fabric is another velvet - this time in pale green.

This little settee was purchased during one of my monthly visits to Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta. It had painted legs but the finish was not in great shape. I refinished in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in graphite (grey-black) and matched it with a great linen fabric. It is living comfortably in Virginia.

I loved this style of small settee which would be wonderful at the end of a bed or in a narrow hallway. It was in very good condition when bought at an estate sale - just needing a fresher fabric. 

This set of settees (bought from a Craigslist add) has been one of this year's favorite transformations. Initially, I was doing the set with this treatment and fabric for an intended buyer in California. She got cold feet and changed her mind but both sold the first week listed. I could have sold a dozen of these. 

These chairs were purchased from the same home as the settees above and have been refinished in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (chateau grey with old white combo) and new Chelsea Linen Fabric.

Well, that was fun for me - I hope you enjoyed the parade and feel inspired to try some of these ideas!