Wingback of Dorian Gray
1 December 2010
Hallelujah! We finished the reupholstery project. This ranks as the toughest ‘arts and crafts’ project we’ve jumped into so far. And it did not make our ‘Let’s Do It Again’ list. While The Prince Consort and I are pretty pleased with the transformation of the moldy thirty-plus-year-old faux leather wingback chair into a black fabric masterpiece, we have had all the fun we want to have with pulling out and then re-stapling nine gazillion staples followed by hours of hand sewing because apparently Gorilla Glue does NOT attach fabric to a chair securely, enough.
The Prince Consort suggested I photograph our finished treasure from a distance, like out in the driveway. And maybe with a piece of gauze or something over the lens to blur the picture. But you know. I like the flaws.
Those wrinkles came out of our hard work and our best intentions. Before our daughter was born, when we bought the wingback chair, the faux leather was tight and smooth. As were our faces. All these years later, the chair is just as comfy, solid, and handsome. As are we. Now its upholstery, like ours, has some wrinkles.(I’m not admitting to any mold.) The chair’s upholstery has morphed from pleather to stylish black fabric with tiny polka dots. Sigh. And yeah, my upholstery/skin has dots/age spots, no longer the freckles of my youth.
We don’t have a portrait in the attic that ages instead of us. We have instead a chair that has aged along with us. I don’t think we’re doing so badly.
Kath
