Friday, August 28, 2009

Steaming down here in Alabama

No, I’m not talking about the weather or my emotional state. I’m talking about furniture cleaning; more specifically, upholstery steaming.

Several of my recent furniture acquisitions had stains and general dinginess to the fabric (hence the low prices on them ;-) I knew a good cleaning would take care of most of it, so I rented a Rug Doctor at Home Depot with a gift card and went to town, taking care of some carpet and rugs in the meantime.


The most dramatic improvement was seen in this upholstered club chair and ottoman I just bought last week. I got it from a woman with two small kids and a cat, so it showed lots of grubby fingers, various beverage stains, pet hair, and the occasional marker and paint scribble. It took about two compete passes and a third spot treatment to get it decent-looking. I won't even tell you how dark and dirty the collected water was, but suffice it to say, I knew the machine was working!

I still plan to make fitted arm covers for the rolled arms, as they bore the brunt of the wear and tear, but that will just give me a chance to use some complimentary material in a fun and functional way (I went digging through my fabric closet and found a favorite print I bought almost a year ago; now I have the perfect use for it)! Here's the before and after Rug Doctor makeover.

Photobucket
Before
This lighting actually hides the worst of it!

Photobucket
After
Thanks to my darling Jeff for helping to haul this comfy chair upstairs to my sewing/sitting room!

Photobucket
Close-up
Here's the fabric for arm slipcovers; it's a tad less pink in real life, and the green couldn't be a better match!

3 comments:

  1. That chair looks really good considering the environment it came from! I'm not a paisley person, but I like the material for the arm covers too. Will you be making curtains from that and a throw pillow as well?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks ladies. Kelly, it's funny what you said about the fabric; I'm definitely a paisley person! I love all colors and variations of it ;-) I already have curtains for the room, but I plan to make some bolsters for the daybed and throw pillows for the chair from the same fabric.

    ReplyDelete