In March, my husband and I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Exciting! Well, yes, but it was our second move in 10 months – pass a pillow, I need a nap. We made a quick trip to Charlotte in February and were able to secure a loft to rent. Loft living is challenging and exciting. I started researching, which means looking at A LOT of pictures on the internet as well as reading tips for decorating. We had basics such as a sofa, chairs, table & chairs, bed, etc., which work well, but this space requires thought and patience. There are numerous consignment, antique, and thrift stores in Charlotte. On a recent trip to the Sleepy Poet Antique Mall, I found a bentwood cane back chair. The chair had some scratches, but the caning was intact. Additionally, the chair felt very study while being light and easy to handle. The thought of being able to recover the seat and personalize the chair for our space turned out to be my true motivator for the purchase.

Before I even took the seat off of the chair, I “auditioned” several Anna Maria Horner fabrics. I initially thought I would go with the big teal floral print, but once I saw the fabric in the space, and on the chair, I felt like Optimistic in cream (a wideback fabric) worked best in regard to scale and color. I posted the choices on my Instagram page and a lot of people weighed in. I enjoyed seeing what people preferred and all the accolades for Anna Maria Horner fabric!

A pillow made with Anna Maria Horner’s Cosmos in blue with matching pompom trim gives this chair a little whimsy.

The whole project required me taking the old seat off, cleaning the chair, very lightly sanding big scratches and doing my best to cover them up. I finished taking care of the wood by rubbing on a light coat of paste wax which brought out a warmer hue in the wood as well as a slight sheen.

The old fabric and foam provided templates for new pieces. I used two inch thick upholstery foam from JoAnn Fabrics. The original fabric was really thick and I did not take that into account with my planning. As I layered the pieces together in preparation to staple them to the seat base, I realized that the foam was not big enough to wrap around both top and bottom edges and that the particle board would cut through my fabric. I made another trip to JoAnn and explained my project to a very helpful sales clerk who guided me to using a layer of batting! Problem solved.

This was a fun project and I am so pleased with the result. It was fairly quick to start and complete and my hubby and I ended up working on it together which is always a bonus.
Happy quilting and crafting! ▶︎ ▶︎ ▶︎