Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » before and after: little willow

the other day larkyn from little willow left a comment with a link to this fantastic chair re-do project. 5 years ago she and her sister bought these chairs at an antique shop in california. larkyn says, “they had been languishing in my garage for the past 2 years until haley [her sister] finally took charge and got the project started. she deserves all the credit since it was she who decided to paint them white, do two different fabrics, one for the front and one for the back and she found an inexpensive ulpholstery guy to put it all together. we both used pink as a starting point. haley’s fabric came from designer etsuko furuya at purlsoho and mine is vanessa arbuthnott from her sky collection. i am thrilled with the outcome!” i think the before and after is fantastic- and all that pink- they’d be so pretty in a little girl’s room. larkyn and her sister used a professional but if you’re not scared to take things apart this is a project that some of you might be able to do on your own. otherwise, don’t be afraid to call your local upholsterer and bring in your favorite fabrics for a project like this. i’m still looking for a good local resource in brooklyn so i’m glad these guys found someone in mill valley. click here for more information on little willow. great work larkyn and haley!

I don’t understand where people find these great fabrics. Where else can you find good modern print fabrics besides repro? I need to find a good fabric with a print for a chair that will get a lot of use!

brian

the post above has two good resources for affordable fabrics other than repro ;)

i second the rec. for purl soho, they can incredible fabric.

i also like joel dewberry and alexander henry. i would try those in addition to etsy- sometimes people resell namebrand fabrics for lower prices there.

grace

purl actually has a great collection of basic fabrics. try their solids section and the linen section, those can be nice. in person they have so, so much more.

i used hable construction fabric on my couch. they’re trade only (i know them personally so they allowed me to buy direct) but you can use most local design center or interior designer for a small fee and have them order the fabric for you.

Thanks for posting Grace! They are my crowning achievement!
Just to let your commentors know; I used an upholster in San Jose, CA, he charged $150 per chair, not to bad I thought. They can email from Little Willow if they want his info.
-Larkyn

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