For more than a year, this pair of bergeres have haunted our living room. Their exposed stuffing and hanging shreds of ivory damask gave us no choice but to nickname them the Miss Havishams.After purchasing oh-so-many different fabrics from my favorite online sites, I eventually committed to this Scalamandre Willow pattern lampas found on designdivafabrics.com Its muted pinks made me think of Newport in the 20s.
Then, with the help of Beth Martell of Randall Ridless LLC, I navigated the dark waters of the D&D Building and bought this smashing Glen plaid raffia from Schumacher. Although those nailheads look a smidge too big for my eyes, these snappy numbers are definitely not Dickensian anymore.
Stay tuned for my tufted homage to MC!
17 comments:
Oh E: I love these - especially the raffia!!! so cute. I'm jealous!
My only disappointment is the stingy shot of the rest of the room. They look great. Don't forget, the eye expects to see one thing and takes a little while to adjust. Enjoy their glory.
I love the way the chairs turned out. You would not know that they were the same chairs. Are they antiques? In your next blog could you possibly speak to the cost factors of refinishing/upholstering versus purchasing new furniture of the same style?
* Mrs. BLANDINGS said it so well!... Yes! MORE, please?... Best, Linda in AZ *
Patrica, you are so wise. Yes, I should let my eyes adjust before I tear out all those nailheads.
I have a few more projects that hopefully won't take years to finish, and then bring on the house tour!
Anonymous, let me see what I can come up with....
Oh, Miss Havisham goes to Paris!
Yes, I love the chair, but I want to see more.
pve
Oh dear, are the cats off limits?
Gorgeous choice of fabrics! Bravo!
PVE, I know!!! That raffia just screams "come dig your claws into me!" When I mentioned this practicality to my decorator friend, she scathingly said, "do you decorate for you or your cats?" so far, the little guys seem to realize the chairs are special, but maybe it is inevitable that they will return to their Havisham-y past...
Loved what was done with the bergere and was pleased to know that I'm not the only person around who references Miss Havisham.
The bold space nailing was a great touch~gutsy!
Maybe the next cats could be named Scalamandre and Schumacher and would be less inclined to haunt their namesakes. Love the mix of the two fabrics. About the nailheads: don't think about it, go with your gut. As my husband who loved playing basketball keeps trying to teach me: thinking too much breaks up the rhythm. I'm still trying to get to the Zen of that. Love the pink with blue walls. It may be Newport, but had to imported from France.
There is some stuff you can spray on furniture that repels cats.... and it really works!
Anonymous, tell me more about said spray, please!!!
Home after Dark, it was less my gut and more that the upholsterer's English wasn't so good. BUT I'm now thinking the big size makes it almost a bit tongue-in-cheek - sort of a Dorothy Draper over-the-topness that makes it less old school and more modern. Hmmm, am I overthinking this or what!
Oh - and Mr. Worthington, so so glad they've earned your approbation.
Where there is laughter and not tears, all is good.
What an amazing before and after difference!
(I love the plaid on the back of the chair...)
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