First Flip List item of the year is a wrap! Wait... what’s a Flip List you ask? Well every year I set out to do seven new diy projects. Usually they’re a combination of things (both furniture and decor related) that scare me and things I’ve always wanted to try.

So this year’s list is as follows:

Now let’s meet the slipper chairs:

It was actually that citridelic yellow that drew me to them in the first place, but up-close, the fabric was sad and scratchy. I loved the beautiful wood and cane frame so that had to stay, but the seat fabric was another animal. I decided to do two things I’ve long wanted to do:

1) Restore these beautiful chairs
2) Use a Pendleton Wool Blanket pattern to do it:

Pendleton wool comes from a family owned company that's been weaving wool blankets for over 150 years. They have a myriad of blanket patterns - mostly Native American inspired designs but they also produce a series of blankets unique to several National Parks. It is these blankets that inspired my latest reupholstery project - specifically the Glacier National Park pattern.

Rainier National Park

Glacier National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Grand Canyon National Park

To me, the bright-colored stripes on the upholstery are a young twist on a classic design.

To keep it fresh, I cut the patterns to be mirror images of each other instead of centering the design the keep it symmetrical.

I would have loved to use the real blanket on this project but they are admittedly priiiiiiiicey. Plus let's be real... I don’t think I could bear to cut one up. So instead I had a suede replica made by Spoonflower - something soft for the tushy (and less itchy than wool).

The handy thing about the pattern was I could use the lines in the design to help create pleats at the corners.

There is something somewhat traditional about cane-backed chairs. So to me, pairing them with the primary colors of the classic Pendleton pattern makes them tres Ralph Lauren (as Chelsea puts it).

That gorgeous cane just needed a little oil to bring it back.

And this time, I moved the entire Matisse grid wall from our kitchen just to style this shoot.

Pendleton Slipper Chairs
Now Available for Sale
$345 for the pair

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com for availability or to ask about our third-party shipping policy.

One down, six to go. Catch up on the 2018 Furniture Flip Bucket List:

Happy New Year StyleMutts! Well, this may be a day (or two) late and an item short, but I'm wrapping up my 2016 Furniture Flip Bucket List! Huzzah! I don't know about you, but that's still a win in my book ;)

You may recall that I've been tackling these 7 items in no particular order:

Well my friends, I still have No.1 and No.2 to go and may-or-may-not-have completed one and a half of them. Much like in 2015, the Baker's Rack has proved... problematic... But fear not! I still have some proof that I at least attempted it this year (that counts right?!?). You'll have to decided whether or not a good ole' college try is admissible in New Year Resolutions court, but in the mean time there's still a fresh-faced new chair on the docket!

I have ALWAYS been interested in upholstery. Primarily because I can't tell you how many times I see pieces with "good bones" but terrifying tapestry. It seems so simple "just switch out the fabric and viola!" but there's nothing simple about reupholstery let me tell you. To get it done right, you either need to pay an arm and a leg plus a foot and a toe or have a fairy fabric-mother. And seeing as I have neither, I decided to challenge myself to try something a little more complicated than my Serape accent chair. And it's no surprise that a project as intimidating as this one has been marinating on my Flip List for 12 months.

I was very selective when choosing my test subject. I wasn't ready for a "whale" of a project like a sofa or a chaise and a wingback armchair with it's flourishing angles would surely be a hot mess with my sewing skills. So I cherry-picked a forgotten chair with clean lines (that's Cate for relatively fool proof) complete with frumpy maroon fabric straight out a dorm room.

Ok so this reveal is gonna go down a little like Project Runway: the opening silhouette may be simple but it's a classic color pallet.

Now strike a pose...

And then turn on the runway so we can see the back...

Boom. There it is!

The leather strap was actually was a Target belt in a former life. For such a simple chair, I wanted it to have a little somethin' somethin'.

The chair disassembled into easy-to-recover panels. I even left the two side pieces off so the chair could "breathe" (and also, let's be real, not trap as many crumbs).

The fabric I chose was a heavy textured linen. Also it's from a painter's dropcloth.

I simply wrapped each panel like a Christmas present complete with snuggly tucked in corners.

Now that I have a more complex reupholstery under my belt (pun so intended), maybe I'll have the courage to try (dare I say it)... piping.

Linen & Leather Chair
Now Available for Sale
Price $95

If you are interested in this piece, or a custom refinish like it, please email mcate@stylemutthome.com

Now, I know what you're thinking: Wait Cate! What about the last item on your 2016 list?

Ahh yes, the very same delinquent baker's rack from 2015 that rolled over to 2016 with the caveat that I would attempted to build it out of reclaimed wood. Well... let's just say I saved the best for last...

Or should I say the operative word was attempted...

Ha! Ok so what I may have in amateur upholstery skills I certainly LACK in carpentry skills. (Insert shameful grin emoji here) But at least this way we can go out with a bang (up job) and a laugh ;)

Here's to a complete(ish) 2016 and to posting a new 2017 Flip List in the coming weeks. Stay classy friends.

Let's Recap The Year: