Monday inspiration - Artist Leslie Oschmann. wow her work is beautiful, after I discovered her work through Pinterest I felt the urge to immediately check out her website and see more. Leslie's work has had me thinking about new possibilities for vintage furniture... maybe learning a new skill in decoupage, could be interesting using old maps or newspaper illustrations, but I cant imagine them coming out look as amazing as these though, but worth a try.

 Leslie relocated from the states to Holland where she set up her studio in Amsterdam, she finds old furniture and paintings at the local flea markets and revamps them, giving them a unique twist.

I love the way she has used full size images on these chairs and used different angles for the top, to make them current and fun. hope you guys feel inspired and give you a creative boost. Happy Monday!

Upholstery Update :: Champagne And Gold

 

When I first picked up this armchair from my client I already new it was going to be beautiful as the shape of the frame is so elegant and when she asked if I would paint the chair in a shimming cream with flecks of gold, I couldn't stop smiling at the thought of painting with gold and couldn't wait to get stuck into this one!

 

This was my first ever armchair, probably the biggest challenge so far, learning to make the cushion seat was probably one of the hardest things I have had to face in upholstery as sewing machines aren't exactly my best friends and having spent 10 hours in total, by the time this baby was done I did start to get the hang of things, but only just...

 

 

Upholstery Update :: The One That Nearly Got Away

 

Some times you find things in the most unexpected places, for instants a odd dinning chair in the middle of a park car.. yep this really did happen, I actually do think they are following me or the word is out on the street that I give makeovers to even the saddest looking chairs, when I saw her just sitting there looking a little bit lonely I thought this is your lucky day, your coming home with me. I had a good look around the car park to see if any one was watching me as I quickly walked over to this chair picked her up and popped her into the back of my car, my deed of the day.

 

 

 

As she was a freebie I thought I would experiment and just have fun, I wanted to go for a real distressed not so perfect looking upholstered chair. Embracing the imperfections, I painted this chair in a light coat of french linen, heavily distressed the frame (which I love). For the upholstery I wanted it to look like this chair was upholstered in old french grain sacking, as vintage sacking is very expensive these days I just upholstered this chair in thick natural linen and stencilled the french writing on the back and finished off with chrome studs that I aged using black acyclic paint. I love, love, love stencilling and I want to do this again I also like the studs as a stylish alternative to double pipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think she turned out just fine, and you wouldn't dare find her dumped in the corner of a car park but you will find her in her new home, Jamie's walk in wardrobe taking pride of place. 



Upholstery update :: sky blues the limit

when you start with a chair that looks like it’s been kept in a skip for the last 20 odd years its exciting knowing that you are going to bring this poor little chair back to life and by the time your done with it, it’s going to be a complete head turner.

I took this pic after I stripped it down, originally it was upholstered in red velvet with brass studs, making this chair look OTT and tacky as the wooden frame is already elaborate enough, I wanted to make this chair look elegant and more simple.

 

I got to learn how to button this term which was really interesting, working out the dimensions for the diamonds and covering buttons by hand is a lot harder then I imagined and the little arms can be fiddly to, but the end result is worth every minute as I’ve fallen completely in love and this will be a hard one to let go.

 

 

I painted this chair in Paris Grey - Annie Sloan {new addiction} I sanded the edges, I think this also helps bring out the beautiful detail that’s in the wooden frame and I decided to go for natural linen in sky blue.

I think this chair would look amazing in a bedroom or if you had a walk-in wardrobe you could have this chair to sit and try on all your beloved shoe collection. {I think Carrie would approve} yep I think I've found the perfect excuse ladies for us to own a chair like this.