I went to order in the exact fabric of Spoonflower's Charcoal Dots in faux suede. It was a little pricey though at $34 a yard. So after a little additional wing back image searching, I decided to have the front portion of the chair in print, and then back and sides in a neutral linen - much like this image {but reserved, because I wanted that soft faux suede to be sat on}. I chose to do that design choice for a couple reasons. 1. The dalmation fabric expensive. 2. I didn't want my chair to be an exact replica of my inspiration. 3. I felt the linen helped neutralize the chair in my space. So went ahead with an order of 4 yards of the Dalmatian / Charcoal Dots for $136. Then I went to my local Joann Fabrics and picked up a couple yards of designer quality linen at like $12 a yard.
The legs: Also featured in this image above, that I absolutely fell in love with is those natural warm wood legs. The legs on my original were glossy and looked like a cherry wood finish. So I made my job to refinish the legs by striping the finish and sanding them down. This however, absolutely did not go to plain. After attempting to strip the finish and aggressively sanding those legs down - I came to the conclusion that the legs on my chair were not real wood. They were some sort of composite, and I was never going to get that natural wood look. I even attempted shopping for new legs, when I gave up on as well because to my surprise there were not easily found. So I ended up painting the legs black, then distressing them.
After removing the legs, my very talented friend I hired to reupholster my wingback went to work. She started by removing all the original blue vintage fabric. All the original cushioning looked well enough to keep, so that was good news.
Here's an update she sent me after attached some of that gorgeous Dalmatian print.
Ready for the reveal? Of course you are!
My friend did such a great job! She even learned how to do piping specifically for this chair, which really gives that professional touch. Here's the black legs I finished myself too. I can't even tell you how long I worked on them before giving up and just painting them black.
