Recovering Vintage Chairs | ORC, Fall 2021, Week 5)

These trend-less chairs bring soul and a signature style to our bedroom office.

It's all in the details.

It’s the bevy of design decisions that come together to manifest a vision for a space. The individual items collect and cling to each other to make something greater. The sum of their parts. This is how you arrive at the custom vision for a space.

So I guess it may not come as a surprise to you that I sweat the details. Maybe too much. But, I believe this is where the magic happens and the dream you have becomes a tangible reality.

Week 5 of the #OneRoomChallenge had us considering just one of these design elements. One piece of the puzzle that would contribute to the makeover of our main bedroom (with a side of office).

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WHAT IS THE ORC?

The One Room Challenge™ occurs in April and October. Each round, twenty design influencers take the challenge as Featured Designers. Every Wednesday, the designers document their progress over six weekly posts (bumped to eight weeks due to the pandemic). Better Homes and Gardens is the official media sponsor.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

Everyone with a blog or Instagram account is welcome to join as a Guest Participant by linking their own room transformations up each Thursday, flooding the internet and social media with interior design inspiration, ideas, and encouragement. You can also visit the One Room Challenge to follow along and cheer on the hundreds of home-loving kings and queens working their magic.

OUR PARTICIPATION

This is our third #OneRoomChallenge and being involved has certainly spurred us on to keep improving and #LovingLeuty. So far, we've chronicled the transformation of our backyard into a cutting garden and flower studio (see here) and overhauled a laundry/bathroom (see here). Now, we're making over our main bedroom. Please come along.

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Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 (you are here) | Week 6 | Week 7 |

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Trend Less

Keep things that have meaning. Made with quality and care. Try not to be seduced by the latest fad, just because. We have an entire chapter in our book devoted to this belief. Eschew throwaway. Instead, reimagine, repurpose. Fill your spaces with soul, while being more tender to our planet.

Our Old Office Chairs Speak To Us

That brings us to our choice of desk chairs. We wanted to bring some texture, comfort and character into a white room. Fresh, library luxe. We had these old office chairs that have been following us from house-to-house. Not only are they of excellent craft and the perfect size, but they are also story-filled. We bought the black vinyl one at thrift store on a family vacation in Buffalo. Graham found the ripped green leather one on the side of the road on garbage day. They remind us of times together.

These chairs were built to last. We could have left them as-is and they would have been just fine, but we wanted to spruce them up a bit and make a more united pair by dressing them in the same upholstery. Here they are sitting pretty in our old Millar House.

We Couldn’t Part With Them

Repurposing design items isn’t always the most economical option. But we love these chairs and didn’t want to say goodbye to them, so they became our splurge in our bedroom makeover.

We had them recovered in a saddle leather that will age and wear and become even more beautiful over time. They are adorned with muted nail heads. The wooden arms and legs glow as if beaming in their new outfit. The pair are just the touch. We needed to create warmth and character and comfort. We’re thrilled with how they turned out and will continue to be treasured pieces for many years to come.

Next Week

The transformative power of paint.