The Chair Whisperer

Pimp My Armchair

I was going through old emails at work and found these pics. They're of an armchair that I bought from a junk shop in Footscray for $40. I sent them to myself so I could show my upholsterer, so he could quote me on recovering.

I have since had it recovered and it looks fantastic. Everyone loves a makeover, so here you go...

Before





When I bought it, the chair was covered in grotty, sack-like fabric with water stains and divots in the seat. The structure was pretty solid except for a slight movement in the back.

After







The fabric I re-covered it in is a large scale charcoal ombre stripe. My upholsterer braced the frame to fix the movement. He removed the old wadding and replaced it with new wadding. He stripped back the timber legs. He pattern matched the stripe so it runs front to back, and also across the arms and seat. He even upholstered the dark part of the stripe at the front of the arms where I'd rest my hands and placed upholstered panels on the front of the arms.

First Market Stall

Mindil Beach Markets - Darwin
Thursday September 4 2008

Last week I travelled to Darwin to stay with my friends, Louise and Pete and their two kids, Davy and Becky. I also got to spend time with my Mum and her partner Hully, as they were in Darwin playing in a squash tournament. I thought I'd take the opportunity to spruik my wares at a market for the first time. And what better place than Australia's best (in my opinion) open-air markets, the infamous Mindil Beach Markets.




My stall was very humble compared to all the others. But I had to be resourceful as I couldn't bring anything with me on the plane. I borrowed Louise and Pete's camping table, chair and water cooler. I covered the table with one of Louise's sarongs and whipped up a sign with my note pad and biro.



My stall may have been small, but it had the best view. I also had a great neighbour, a Thai lady selling mangoes from her own trees. Yum!



At dusk, everyone walks down on to the beach with their food and wine to watch the sun set.

At times it was slow but I ended up making a profit. I came away feeling more confident in my product and I definitely learnt a lot from the experience.