The Secret Life of a Cushion

We all do it. You know you do. You say you just want to update the look of your dining room. Maybe add a little color to your breakfast nook. So, you head on down the the local fabric store and pick up a couple of yards. Maybe you'll go with a bold pattern this time. Or, get in on the burlap craze.

I'm talking about recovering a chair cushion. An easy, affordable way to change the look of your chairs. Some of us are able to control this urge. Then, there are others that need an intervention.

With this in mind, I give you Exhibit A:


Looks harmless, right? Four of these chairs were given to us. I liked the curves of the legs and back and thought they would be great in our breakfast room. I got most of the paint sanded off. Repainted them. Distressed them. Then, it was time to work on that seat cover. My plan was to strip down the seat cushion, put a simple piece of fabric on it, and buy a couple of cushions to put on top of that. I picked up some super cute ones at Pier One (this is the pattern...the shape of mine are a bit different).
First up, stripping off that brown fabric. That was easier said than done.

Which brings me to Exhibit B:

You might find it difficult to see the many layers of this seat. So, let me break it down for you.


And, it doesn't stop there. I got down to the "last layer", layer 6. A sweet, light blue striped fabric that goes perfectly with our walls and the cushions I picked for the chairs. But, upon further inspection (I didn't want to rip the striped fabric) I noticed there were at least three more layers. Possibly a fourth. For a grand total of 10 layers of fabric. And approximately 10 thousand staples.

Because the gifter of these chairs thought there were only two layers of fabric, an intervention in this case is clearly beyond my control. Clearly, someone before her had an addiction to recovering chairs. What gets me the most is, why, after 10 transformation was it decided that these chairs should be given up on? What was it that caused this person to toss them aside? Perhaps purchase new ones? I will never know. But, as they say, one person's trash is another's treasure!