Finally Getting Around to That Chair Reupholstery Project
I had been putting off this chair project for months. The old armchair in the corner of the living room had seen better days, and the fabric was starting to pill in places. Every time I walked past it I noticed the way the afternoon light caught on the worn spots near the arms. Ren kept saying we should just get it done instead of looking at it every day, and eventually the gentle nudging turned into a running joke about the chair becoming a permanent roommate.
On Tuesday after work I drove over to the fabric shop in Maple Ridge Commons. It is a little farther than the usual spots but they had the exact weight of linen I needed for the seat and back. The air inside smelled like starch and old wood, and bolts of cloth were stacked almost to the ceiling along one wall. I grabbed a couple of yards in a light gray and some matching thread. The clerk helped me match the thread to the sample I brought along, which saved me from guessing wrong. We stood at the counter for a few minutes while she held different spools under the overhead lights, both of us squinting a little until we agreed on the closest one.
The timing worked out because the summer solstice parade was happening that evening on the main roads. Traffic was rerouted but it only added about ten minutes to the drive home. I stopped at a little spot near the shop for a cup of cherrybark tea while I waited for the light to change. It was stronger than I expected but still good with a splash of milk. The barista had drawn a tiny leaf shape in the foam, and I carried the paper cup back to the car, sipping carefully so it wouldn’t slosh on the fabric roll in the passenger seat. Outside, the parade floats were already lining up, and I could hear the distant thump of a bass drum mixed with someone testing a microphone.
Back at the house I cleared off the dining table and laid out the old cushions to use as patterns. The table still had a faint ring from last week’s coffee mug, so I spread an old sheet first. Ren came in from the garage and offered to help hold the fabric in place while I pinned it. We got the seat done first without too many wrinkles. The back was trickier because of the curve on the frame. I ended up taking one seam out twice before it sat right. At one point a pin rolled off the table and disappeared under the radiator; we spent a minute fishing it out with a ruler before we could keep going.
By the time we finished the basic cover it was almost nine. We ordered takeout and ate on the couch while the fabric glue set on the trim pieces. The chair looks a lot better already even though I still need to finish the bottom skirt and the arm pads. It feels solid though, which is what matters for daily use. Every so often I caught myself reaching over to run a hand across the new linen, surprised at how smooth it already felt compared to the old pilled surface.
The rest of the week has been pretty normal. Work has been steady with a couple of client meetings about color palettes for a new office build. I have been trying to walk in the evenings when the weather stays mild. Yesterday I noticed the neighbor’s dogwood finally started blooming, which seems late compared to last year. The petals looked almost translucent in the streetlight when I passed by after dinner, and the air smelled faintly of cut grass from someone’s lawn mower that had run late.
The chair will be done by the weekend if nothing else comes up. Ren wants to move it into the study once the glue dries fully. We will see how it looks with the desk in there.