Happy autumn, Gentle Readers!! Let’s get right to it, shall we?
My friend Christina asked me the best question yesterday: “Can I reupholster a Louis XV chair in cowhide?”*
I LIVE for questions like this! The answer, dear friend, is yes ;)
But why? How?
First, about the chair.
Christina recently spent an enviable afternoon deconstructing her grandmother’s antique fauteuil chair with a friend.
This brocade fabric covered the chairs:
Behind it was a silk — in a similar pattern, actually:
And a roughly woven linen was underneath everything.
Oh yes, and there was lots of horsehair. (Achoo.)
Here’s the cowhide print fabric my friend is considering:
She pointed out that it would be a slam-dunk on a midcentury chair…
But we digress. Christina said that she was considering the cowhide pattern for the BACK of the chair only, and then the rest of the chair — the inside — would be upholstered in white, like this:
I am going to gently but firmly discourage her from pursuing that course of action.
Why? Because it’s not enough.
It’s not enough to have a DRAMATIC pattern ONLY on the back of the chair, especially if the rest of the chair is white. It either will look like a) you lost your nerve, or b) you ran out of cowhide.
(Side note: I would be thrilled if we were considering an actual cowhide with a huge brown and white pattern…the hide of a happy Guernsey cow that grazed freely on organic grass and willingly gave her life for food and decor. All things considered, though, the cowhide print fabric will be just fine.)
Now, if you wanted to cover the inside of the chair in a COLOR, say, forest green leather, I could mayyyybe get behind restricting the cowhide pattern to the back. But my strong recommendation is to use the cowhide everywhere. Intentionality.
The cowhide pattern works because it’s such a contrast to the Louis XV chair — a contrast in terms of the level of formality. The playful, meandering pattern modernizes a super fancy, formal antique. Also, color-wise, the brown and white looks amazing with the chair’s wood frame. I don’t think a black and white cowhide print would be as successful.
Now. Does this mean that I would support upholstering a Louis XV fauteuil (or a bergère or similar) in ANY animal pattern?
I had to think about that, but ultimately, Gentle Reader, I am going to say no. Definitely no to black and white zebra. (This happens to be a velvet print, but I don’t care. I don’t like it.) Maybe the pattern is too graphic for the delicate form of the chairs.
How about a leopard print? It’s a busy pattern on busy chairs, but the more I look at the fauteuils below, the more I’m ok with the leopard. The stained, rather than painted, frames saves them, I think.
With a white or black painted chair frame, I HATE the leopard upholstery. It’s too harsh. Too Liberace. (No offense to Liberace, of course. He was a style icon, but very few can pull off his look.)
How about tiger? The colors are right, but it’s just SO MUCH. I feel like this chair’s owner is trying very, VERY hard to be creative.
All of this animal pattern is making me queasy, I have to admit. It’s a bit of an assault on the senses. Plus it’s animal drama on top of Louis XV drama. That’s a lot of drama.
Returning to the soft, gentle, friendliness of the original cowhide-print fabric makes me feel much better. Proceed apace, Christina! And send pictures, obviously.
Annie Elliott Design is expanding its horizons: if you live in New York and are ready for a color, pattern, and gin-infused update, be in touch!
*Corrected version! After posting, I was informed that Christina’s chair is a FAUTEUIL, not a bergère! And that it’s Louis XV!!! I sincerely apologize – no decorative arts expert, I. Unfortunately ;)
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