Restoring Vintage Furniture for the SF Decorator Showcase

We were honored to collaborate with the talented Ann Lowengart Interiors for the 2016 San Francisco Decorator Showcase. Annie’s vision for her Showcase room - the girl’s bedroom - was inspired by her own sister’s childhood bedroom. Annie sourced all the vintage pieces from Chairish and revitalized them using vibrant colors and playful patterns from Robert Allen fabrics. The vintage pieces - a pair of upholstered twin headboards, a Hollywood Regency style upholstered chair and a Hickory Chair nightstand - all have timeless lines which made them perfect candidates for honoring both the era of Annie's childhood and today's young girl. 

Revitalization Checklist

• All pieces were in excellent structural condition

• Chair: lacquer custom color and reupholster - remove seat tufting

• Headboards: reupholster - remove ruched channel

• Nightstand: Wallpaper/decoupage and plate drawer pull

Design decisions

Envisioned in pink and orange, the girl's bedroom presents a chic take on a classic color combination. 

Hollywood Regency Chair Restoration

This chair had great potential but was very dated with its speckled wood finish and mustard yellow velour fabric. Here’s what we did…

Lacquer the chair frame in a custom color (Benjamin Moore "Peony").

Upholster inRobert Allen “Alpenglow” in red lacquer.

Remove the tufting on the seat.

Replace the old foam cushions.

Reupholstered Twin Headboards

The timeless lines of these headboards made them the quintessential "great bones" for reupholstery. Here’s what we did…

Reupholster in Robert Allen “Quick Flash” in fuchsia.

Use a contrast welt (burnt orange color) to highlight the bed’s feminine curves.

Remove the ruching (bunched fabric).

Wallpaper-wrapped Vintage Nightstand

To boost the cheerful design of the room and introduce a touch of glitter, we wrapped the nightstand in Designers Guild “Rosetti” wallpaper in scarlet color way.

We coated the piece in a high gloss clear lacquer to up the glam and improve durability.

And we re-plated drawer pull to complement the new design.

The decor of this chic and inviting room exemplifies how styles from other eras can be easily transformed into fresh and current pieces that work in today's interiors.

Have a piece from your own childhood home that needs to be modernized?

photos: david duncan livingston and guillermo gusils leon