*Lyrics from Coldplay‘s first single, Yellow, off their first album, Parachutes. Don’t you miss old Coldplay? Don’t get me wrong, I still love Chris Martin’s voice, and they’re clearly talented, but, well, maybe I shouldn’t like the same band that my 9 year-old niece thinks is great (‘OMG, I LOVE them!’). Maybe I’ll just remember when…

BEFORE: Mustard velvet upholstery, while in excellent shape, wasn't our bag, baby. Plus, there was a squeaky spring in the seat that was mildly annoying.

Speaking of ‘remembering when,’ remember when I moved into my pied-à-terre and I was all ‘we’re going to do this fast because we must’? Yeah, well, turns out, not so fast. Some things went really quickly – e.g., choosing and applying paint colors, buying a sofa and mattress, getting some cabinetry for the kitchen – while other things moved much slower – e.g., accessorizing, figuring out where to put things, getting a table for the TV, hanging art. All along, however, there was the dream to reupholster a little vintage chair I had originally purchased for my tiny mom (the chair felt a little lower than today’s chairs, and she’s shrimpy short) and move it to the apartment. We have limited floor space, and limited doorway and hallway space (see: the bed debacle), and this petite chair that wasn’t going to work for my mom seemed perfect. All we had to do was choose a fabric.

Chirp, chirp, chirp. Choosing a fabric. One would think it would be easy. As it turns out, not easy at all. It took months. And months. As a matter of fact, when the upholsterer finally came to pick up the chair (they pick up!) and get started on it, the whole process only took about a week. He had a slot open up in his schedule, and just powered through it. So, we were the hold-up on this one. No one else to blame but ourselves.

A bit before Christmas, Jenny from Little Green Notebook posted some fabric selections from a vendor she’d had good luck with (and was doing a promo for). One of the fabrics she chose seemed interesting to me, so I showed it to Jeff. It was the first of dozens that I had shown him that he said he liked. I asked him if he was serious. He said yes. I ordered it before either of us could change our minds. (You see, during this timeframe, my sister had moved in with us, and while we three were in the apartment together, we were slightly desperate for an additional seating option.) We received the fabric just before the New Year, and relinquished it to Jeff at Pioneer Valley Upholstery soon thereafter.

I had never had anything reupholstered before. I had never worked with any fabric like this (boldly patterned), nor had I expected to choose something so, well, wacky. But, here it is, in her full glory. She’s living at The Pied now, and within a few weeks I’ll have some progress pictures for you of the entire place, for better or for worse.

For now, pictures. Working with an experienced upholsterer was great – I highly recommend them for their craft, and their professionalism. And now we have a one-of-a-kind piece that makes us feel cheerful, happy, and a bit wild. Enjoy! xoxo