dear Bossy,
i’m in need of some serious bossing around if you’re in the mood. got four chairs (dirt cheep) to reupholster for use with a bridge table in my mom’s living room. sorry i don’t have a photo of the table. it’s wood in a bamboo style, square with a leather top inset. (two of the chairs are like photo #1 and two are like photo #2)
finally found a fabulous fabric online that is a bit pricey. okay, so here’s the question: i could save money by putting the fancy fabric only on the backs with a plain linen on the fronts. i’ve been seeing this style in the magazines for a while now. is this going to look passe in a year or two? do you have any deep feelings about nailhead trim vs. piping? also, to tuft or not with a large-scale pattern fabric? i don’t want it to look too formal, Hotel or (worse) Airport Bar. we’re hoping for cheeky-modern-posh. thank you for any advice.
sincerely,
Winging It
A: Ooooh, cheeky modern posh. From the sound of it, you’re on your way. Those chairs look excellent, and they’ll be great w/ the table you describe.
If it will save you considerable $ – and it might, since the pattern is large-scale, and you always need more of that – then by all means put the fabric only on the backs. I like that look, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere. Remember, though, that for the fronts “plain linen” doesn’t have to mean “plain white:” pick up one of the dominant colors in the big pattern – cherry red, aubergine, kiwi, whatever. Re: big patterns and tufting, I’m not crazy about it, so I’m with you there.
Another option to consider, though, would be to do the front AND back of the non-tufted chairs in the patterned fabric and then ONLY the front of the tufted chairs in the solid color. That would keep the feel lighthearted.
Re: nailheads vs. piping, the latter is less fussy. So if the table is really intricate, you may want to tone down the chairs by using piping. (Might also save you a little $.) Good luck – sounds like a great project.
The fabric pictures are from Manuel Canovas’s website