With Some Imagination, Vintage Fabrics: Slipcovers Complete Chic Home Reno

Every once in a while I meet a client who is as crazy about slipcovers as I am. Meeting Stacy last year was like meeting my slipcover soulmate. Not only does she love slipcovers, she loves vintage fabrics.

As a collector, she has complied a worthy stash of vintage fabrics. When she first called me last year, she had many pieces she wanted to slipcover; partly for the fabric and partly for the function. She doesn’t just collect fabrics, you see, she also keeps and fosters cats; lots of them and slipcovers gives her the option of washing when necessary.

We started in her living room, where I made slipcovers for three pieces in a combination of blues and white. The winged sette was done in a stripped blue and white canvas. The wing chair was done in a white denim. Stacy had a great arm chair that had loose cushions. We used a light blue canvas to recover those, and piped them in the blue stripe. We also covered an ottoman the same way. This tied it all ogether.

Below, the finished room.

Next, we went upstairs to another sitting area and I slipcovered a few more piece using some of her vintage fabrics. The first was a chaise lounge. She’d acquired some draperies in a floral bark cloth. This is a nubby woven fabric that was very popular in the 50's. This one had a big floral bouquet in blues and pinks. It wasn't enough to do the whole piece, so we teamed it with a small pink "All Over", and some more of the light blue canvas. We were even able to find a brush fringe in blue to trim out the skirt. It came out great. There was a pretty yellow floral that she only had a small piece of, we used it to cover a cushion. Additionally, she had a small side chair. I made slipcover in blue and white embroidered fabric, teaming it with white denim. We also altered another set of draperies for the windows. It’s always fun to work with a client who likes to mix things up with fabrics and design styles.

The project in Stacy’s bedroom encompassed all that fun and more. Using a set of vintage drapery panels, she’d purchased, I altered them for the space and hung them on her windows. They too had a bouquet of roses on them but incorporated a stripe. The drapery panels also came with a coverlet, which was cut to make a bed skirt. The top of the coverlet is still intact and at some point we may turn that into a duvet. Or knowing Stacy and I something entirely different.

To the left, the finished bed skirt.

What’s interesting about working with Stacy is that she doesn’t only see the value in slipcovering her own home, but her rental properties as well. And she has an interesting rental property, believe me (it’s available to rent in Sea Isle City, N.J., by the way. Check it out here).

Stacy likes to say they rescued an amazing old beach house from the clutches of a wrecking claw and completely restored it. It has all the charm of a seaside house of old. Each room has been decorated, by Stacy herself, and given its own name. It feels like a quaint bed and breakfast, but it is rented as one home.

Here, we set out to change some of the look and feel by using slipcovers. Again, we started in the living room; recovering two chairs. Both were repurposed from somewhere else in the home. Using her vintage fabrics and my eye for combining fabrics and texture, the chairs were transformed. Now, they don’t just have a new look but they feel like they were made specifically for that space.

In the large bedroom on the first floor, I recovered a chair and a settee that had been part of an office furniture set. They fit into the space perfectly and where in great shape; all they needed was a new look to fit into the shabby chic look Stacy uses throughout her homes. A little sage and cream ticking, a little ruffle on the hems, and BAM they became shabby chic gems. No one would ever guess they’d been used as office furniture in their previous life.

To the right, the office chair repurposed and slipcovered now in a bedroom.

Have a vision like Stacy to transform your home or part of your home (or rental property)? Call us. Our mission is to help clients see their vision come to life. Stacy and I accomplished this, twice. Check out the bay room project on Houzz.