An Easy Armchair Makeover

Just before Christmas last year, we purchased a winged armchair for our living room.  It was a bit of a last minute rush to buy one, which isn't the best of circumstances, before OH's  mum and dad came for Christmas, as it was bought with the intention that his dad could use it during his stay.  As I'd left it ridiculously late to find one, and despite having scoured local 2nd hand furniture stores, I ended up having to buy one 'buy it now' on eBay.  Even here, there were a limited number that could be delivered in time for Christmas with just a week to go, well just the one in fact, so this was the chair we bought.

 (NB Please excuse the massive pile of ironing in the background - it has now been done, but I'm keeping it real and showing things as they really are).

It probably wouldn't have been our first choice, but we were just grateful that it could be delivered in time and within a reasonable budget.  It's nice enough, and although I like the plaid, I wasn't keen on the texture of the fabric and it didn't really fit in with the decor, our living room being blues/greens/greys, and the chair being brown/beige/cream.  In an attempt to make it blend in more, I threw a favourite vintage woolen blanket over it to make it feel nice and cosy, but as you can see this completely hides the nice shape of the chair, which is a pity. 

Unfortunately, in the end it was a bit of a squeeze for OH's dad to use, so he ended up sitting on the sofa during his visit anyway.  We, on the other hand love sitting in it and even now we often argue over who gets to sit in it.  It is very comfortable for sitting and watching TV or sewing, especially once I'd revamped a foot stool I found in the street to use with it.

Just lately, however, I was feeling a bit dissatisfied with the look and got to thinking that I might get a loose cover for it, so that it you could see it's nice shape and so that it would fit in better with the general decor.  I checked out a few places to see if I could find any covers for wing chairs.  There seemed to be quite a variety for sale in the US, but very few here.  Anyway, I found one on eBay and figured that it was worth a try.  It was charcoal in colour which sounded perfect, but it was a bit of a gamble.

It arrived within a couple of days and after initial difficulty knowing which way to put it on, I managed to get it in place.  It wasn't perfect, as you can see from the photograph, and was a little tightly stretched in some places and a little loose in others, but I was pretty happy with the overall outcome and the room feels a bit tidier and more pulled together now.