The Ugly Chair's Remodel

I thought I'd written about The Ugly Chair on this blog, but after a little search, realized that I hadn't.  I supposed that I wanted to wait until the story had a beginning, middle, and end.  And now it does.  So let me tell you all about The Ugly Chair.  (Dear camelridingcowgirl: don't worry, at the Reveal at the end, I will cease calling the chair "ugly."  I know how you feel about that.)

Just two weeks after I bought The Leather Chair (that would have won the prize for worst delivery ever, but the Couch beat him out when it refused to be delivered), I was in a second-hand store and saw The Ugly Chair.  I told Mrs. X that it sure looked comfortable.  In fact, it was shaped like the perfect reading chair.  She encouraged me to sit in it, and I asked her, "Why?  Do you see how ugly that thing is?"  She laughed and said to give it a try.  I did...and oh my.  It was the perfect reading chair.  It only cost 50 euros.  All the cushions were removable, so the ugly could be remodeled.  And...it had a secret compartment underneath with a fun little door.  On a whim, I bought it...and haven't regretted it for a moment since.

 Above is The Ugly in all her glory.  I mean, really...so ugly.  But all four cushions are removable, and the covers on them are also removable.  I can work with removable!  (Do you see the little door at the bottom?  Don't tell the robbers, but it's where I keep all my diamonds.)

I immediately covered The Ugly with this pretty grey, blue, and brown fabric.  I meticulously tucked and pinned the fabric so it would look oh-so-nice.  And after about two sittings...it was hopelessly wrinkled.  The pretty fabric wasn't going to work long-term until I'd gotten The Ugly reupholstered.

So I went to Ikea, bought a plain Jane navy blanket, and covered The Ugly with that.  This is what she's looked like for the past year.  And always needing to be retucked.

Before I left for the states, I let The Ugly know it was finally time.  She was going to get a make-over!  The cushions were velcro and zippered, so I thought they'd be easy to remove.  The two arms were.

 However, the bottom and back cushions were not so keen on this make-over and weren't willing to go without a fight.  Whoever made these cushion covers apparently didn't think anyone would ever remove them, because they only put ONE zipper, and at the smallest opening.  The long, rectangle bottom cushion was oh so hard to extract.  I thought I was going to rip the foam that makes the cushion and have to just throw The Ugly Chair out the window.  (Dear camelridingcowgirl: I never said that statement out loud, so she doesn't know I was that frustrated with her.  And she doesn't know how to read, so I don't think she'll ever find out via the blog.)

However, if I thought the rectangle cushion was difficult, did I ever have it coming by the time I got to what I call the mushroom-shaped back cushion.  Shaped like a mushroom, the top is so much bigger than the bottom.  And guess where the only zipper-opening was?  That's right: on the bottom.  How someone ever got that cushion in there is beyond me.  I pushed and shoved and almost called in reinforcements via The BodyBuilder and the Artist.  But just went I thought I wasn't going to be able to do it on my own, I finally got the foam out.

 I finally had just the cushion covers, and was ready to pack them to take to the US as a pattern for my seamstress there.  (Why not have them done in France, you ask?  Because the US is oh-so-much cheaper than France.)  Poor Ugly got covered up and tucked in a corner for almost three months while I was away working on a whole new wardrobe for her.

Meanwhile, in the US, I had to find fabric pretty much straight off the boat so that I could get it to the seamstress in time for her to make them before I left again.  I went to as many fabric stores as I knew of, and became quite disheartened: all the fabric I really liked, I couldn't afford.  What I could afford was just too plain.  However, there was no way I was putting those ugly covers back on those cushions!  I finally found a plain, textured, blue fabric that could work.  I'd really hoped for some kind of pattern that would the chair make a bold statement in my living room, but well...I guess bold just isn't her personality.

The seamstress was a little surprised by the fact that I didn't have an actual pattern or the cushions themselves for her to measure, and that she was going to just have to go with pre-existing covers as a model.  She's great, though, and made it happen!  We also discussed putting in more accessible openings this time.

Once back in France, the Artist came over to help get the covers on.  We folded the mushroom in half, and shoved it in.

 We shoved and shoved.

 At one point, we thought we were going to need backup and sent a text to the BodyBuilder.  But we finally got the whole mushroom cushion into the cover.  Then it was just getting it straightened out and lined up with seams.  Easy breezy.

Oh!  I didn't mention that when I was stripping down The Ugly Chair to her bare ninnies, I found out her real name: ALISE.  It's carved right into her foam, like a tattoo or something.  So, from henceforth, she is no longer ugly.  She is Alise.

 And here she is in all her glory!  The cushion covers fit!!!  The mushroom one is just a little big, and the Artist thinks that's because it's supposed to be gathered a bit in the middle with buttons.  Maybe one day I'll add them when I've finished all eight-bazillion other projects I have around the house.  But even with the top being just a little big, I think it still looks wonderful.

No more ugly.  No more forever retucking.  Just uber-comfort in a big cushy armchair named Alise.