Learning New Skills (Adventures in Upholstery)

Stretching yourself is a part of life. A necessary, yet usually uncomfortable, part of life. I have this weird personality tension of always wanting to learn new things but hating situations where I don't know what I'm doing. Thankfully, the learner part of me usually wins, and I get myself into all sorts of new situations where I have to figure out something as I go and end up with a new skill/knowledge at the end.

I haven't explored the realm of DIY upholstery until this past year—it just seems so daunting I didn't even really want to try. But I got into a few projects where I really couldn't get the "wow factor" I wanted unless I learned to make some new cushion covers, so I decided to jump right in and see what I could come up with. I'm so glad that I decided to give it a try! I'm certainly not an upholstery wizard yet, but it does feel good to have a few simple projects under my belt. Like anything new, you feel more confident each time you do it successfully (even if it takes a few hundred tries to get it done right), and I love the satisfaction of having done something myself—isn't that a big part of what doing DIYs is about?

We needed some new cushion covers for our styling room table and chairs. The white covers the chairs came with were too small and already dirty when we opened the box, so it seemed like a good idea to make some colorful replacements. Now, if this project had come up even six months ago, I would have yelled, "Not it!" and run away to hide somewhere in fear, but having already dived into the upholstry pool, I took the project on with excitement. Let's do it!

We used a super colorful blanket as the material for our covers. Thankfully, I could get all four covers made out of one blanket, but let me tell you, it was a tight squeeze!

So I know you're probably wondering, "Well, how did you do it? How did you make the covers?" and I'm afraid that your answer is going to be a bit delayed. While I did manage to get the covers completed (and looking mighty fine if you ask me), the woven blanket material was really hard to work with and quickly unravelled as soon as it was cut and handled at all. I mean, threads were everywhere! So, this isn't the best project to show the process of upholstering, but the good news is that I have another chair makeover in the works that will totally show how to make your own awesome new cover—just remember, patience is a virtue....

It's no secret that we love color and patterns here at ABM, so these cushion covers are just what the doctor ordered for our little styling room. This room is really coming together (and we are still so obsessed with our DIY feather pendant light), and I can't wait to see how the rest of the finishing touches come out. Who knows, maybe I'll get to learn another new skill in the process—I hope so! xo. Laura

Credits // Author: Laura Gummerman, Photography by: Laura Gummerman & Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited with Stella from The Signature Collection.