Uncovering secrets from the Victorian chaise lounge

I bought this chaise lounge as a personal project from Facebook marketplace. It was advertised for $10, the springs were busting through the fabric, it clearly needed a revamp but the bones were good. The seller had intended to reupholster it themselves and said they were moving to another province and never got around to it.

I bought it and I must admit that I've had it hanging around in that condition for about a year. Shameful I know. I love a project but sometimes it keeps getting pushed behind other projects that skip the queue. Once it was getting close to moving to a new place I knew I had to finally make it a priority and I spent an afternoon stripping it down to the frame.

I filled up 4 gardening bags with horsehair and straw. It was a filthy mess but luckily I love that sort of thing. Also a huge bonus that there were zero staples to remove, only tacks so that made it much easier.

Once I made it through all the layers and piles of muck I was finally getting down to the bones of the structure.

I knew when I bought it that it was a special piece. I love the curved wood detail on the back support. The legs are lovely turned chunky legs on spindly casters, and who doesn’t love a chaise lounge! It’s also quite petite and sweet and I knew I needed it in my life, even if it’s hung around waiting for it’s turn to be worked on.

Once I peeled back the layers it revealed some fun surprises as part of it’s story. It was clear from the fabric that this is not the original upholstery, it’s quite plastic-y feeling and the colours are a bit 70’s to me.

After pulling it apart, it revealed part of it’s story to me. Sadly I am not getting the 1890’s original story, that will remain a mystery as it seems to have been recovered in the 1960’s as I found a few pennies from that decade. How cool! Not only that but some little dolls toys like a little mirror and other plastic accessories. My favourite part the little Christmas present tag and some miscellany like a guitar pick. Of course these pennies and trinkets would have fallen in from sitters pockets overtime but based on the fabric it seemed to be accurate to have been re-upholstered in the 60’s or 70’s. Truly it felt quite nasty actually!

‘Jim from Albert & Irene’ Christmas Greetings

Along with the straw and horse hair the chaise was stuffed with it had loads of strips of fabric scraps and to my surprise another tale was told via a piece of burlap marked with Yarmouth NS on it. Hmmm! Perhaps it was reupholstered in the 60’s in Nova Scotia? Very well could be.

However the one troubling and puzzling piece revealed from the stuffing was bizarre and altogether creepy. A small baby’s knitted cardigan! Just living in there for decades….! Hand sewn button holes and no label. Looks handmade to me. Could it be the one relic the chaise has hung on to from it’s Victorian roots? I wish I knew but for now it’s just a truly bizarre finding within this odd little story of a forgotten chaise lounge.

What other stories are buried unknown in our furniture!? It’s really an exciting part of the upholstery process, the secrets hidden in the layers we lounge on!

Well here it is! A project that sat on the back burner for awhile finally got the love it deserved in early 2023. I stripped the frame to bare wood and re tied all the springs. Let’s just say I was sore not only in my fingers but my whole body after tying these springs. Such a physical feat! I just LOVE the result and now it sits pride of place in my living room. There’s something really special about having an unconventional piece in your home. It really does set such a unique spin and adds what I feel is quite a necessary quirkiness to a space. I truly love having a chaise in my home and bonus it’s fun to lie down on and I could easily fall asleep on it. I haven’t yet added the curved back yet because the way it’s placed is opposite the direction it was designed for so I would have to use the back of the curved wood which I don’t want to do. I don’t mind not having it, and I’ve added a bolster to soften the look/add a neck rest. I have the curved wood trim set aside for later if I move and it will be facing the right direction I can easily add it on. For now it works great without the back and since I do the upholstery myself it’s not a problem to add it down the line, I still do have quite a bit of extra fabric anyways.

Speaking of fabric it really took me a long time to decide what to use on this piece which is another reason it sat undone for so long. I opted for a classic ticking stripe and I truly love the result. After really studying English interiors quite a lot I’ve found that the humble ticking stripe is kind of everywhere, and almost no scheme doesn’t have it somewhere. The thing is a stripe really holds it own and you can’t go wrong with it. As well since this piece is such a classic beauty I thought I’d keep it classic with a stripe. I also swooned over many striped couches and chaises on Pinterest and decided a stripe it must be!

Alas, here is the finished piece, with some progress pictures too!