Today we shared my home tour on the blog, and though truly every piece of furniture in the apartment comes with a story, this project was too good not to share. I scored this leather sling chair on Craigslist a couple years ago — cool right? The leather was worn when I bought it, but it wasn’t until the straps underneath the seat snapped that I knew it needed some serious TLC. Check out the “before” below, and keep reading to find out what we did to breathe new life into this lounge chair.
I dropped the chair off with my friend Noah Marion, but not before removing the wooden arm rests to take back home with me. Noah is a leather master, and though he primarily makes and sells smaller-scale products in his Austin shop and online, he kindly agreed to help me with this custom project (it only took a few weeks of begging.)
He replaced the entire leather piece with his signature hand cut leather, and instead of securing it all with stitching like before, he added a real wow factor with brass studs. This leather will age and darken over time, and I can’t wait to look back on these photos to see how it’s changed over the years. At home, I sanded down the armrests to remove the polyurethane and black paint. The light wood looks cleaner, especially when paired with the beautiful soft leather.
I’m truly in love with how this turned out. Just goes to show ya that with a little imagination and elbow grease, you can turn a thrifted chair into a true work of art!
photography by molly culver
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I can’t believe its the old chair.The makeover is absolutely stunning.