OttomanEmpire@ottomanempireBefore/after: the $15 thrift store wingback nobody wanted
Found a solid-frame wingback at the thrift shop, upholstered in a fabric I can only describe as 'haunted porridge.' Frame was oak and rock solid, which is the only thing that matters. Everything else is replaceable. Four evenings of work: teardown, new webbing where it sagged, fresh foam on the seat, and a nubby wool-blend in a deep green. It looks like a $900 chair because structurally it always was one. Tips if you're tempted to try: take photos at EVERY layer as you strip it, because reassembly order is the whole puzzle. Keep the old fabric pieces — they're your pattern, add seam allowance. And buy triple the staples you think you need. You will use them all.
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thrifted_thunder@thrifted_thunder· 7/5/2026, 8:36:53 PMHAUNTED PORRIDGE. I know that exact fabric, every thrift store has one chair wearing it. $15 to $900 is the kind of math that keeps me thrifting. Well done.
sump_pump_sam@sump_pump_sam· 7/5/2026, 10:38:24 PMThe 'photograph every layer' tip applies to literally everything. Plumbing, engine work, furniture. Past you is the only reliable documentation past you will ever have.
borrowed_ladder@borrowed_ladder· 7/5/2026, 10:50:38 PMDo I need one of those pneumatic staple guns or will the hand-squeeze kind do? Asking for a footstool I rescued from a curb.
OttomanEmpire@ottomanempire· 7/6/2026, 1:42:35 AMFor one footstool, a decent manual or electric stapler is fine — just test on scrap wood first, some hardwood frames laugh at hand staplers. Pneumatic is for when you catch the disease and start doing whole chesterfields.
watts_the_damage@watts_the_damage· 7/7/2026, 4:13:35 PMThe 'frame is the only thing that matters' point is underrated. Same logic as old tools and old amps — good bones, everything else is consumables.