needlepoint cushions on dining room chairs from Traditional Home

10 years ago

I inherited 6 needlepoint chair bottoms from my aunt - just the canvas, not the whole chair bottom. They are gorgeous and are very special to me and my family. My chairs are fully upholstered so I cannot use them. They are too small for my sister's dining room chairs or my daughter's chairs. But I've seen a solution that would work for them. I just need a picture.

In the Christmas issue of Traditional Home sometime after 2001 but before 2009, there was an article about a home in Dallas. It showed a picture of the beautifully decorated dining room. The Chippendale chairs were upholstered in the usual way. But layered on top of the usual chair bottoms were thin-ish cushions with needlepoint on one side. The cushions were tied on the chairs with beautiful cords with tassels.

I've tried to explain this to my daughter and my sister, but it comes out sounding much more frou-frou than it actually was. Ok, the tasseled cords may have been a tad frou-ish. They could probably be replaced with tailored straps with matching covered buttons to knock down the frou-factor.

Do any of you collect old Traditional Homes? If so, could you look at the Holiday Issues between 2002 and 2009 and see if you can find the picture I'm talking about?

I've googled everything I can think of and it isn't turning up on Google Images. I also tried the Traditional Home website, but it isn't made for searching.

Comments (9)

patricianat
10 years ago
It's a beautiful look and not over the top. Too much is never enough and I have seen this done in situ very beautifully. It's just a pancake of a cushion that is held by the tapestry, and tying it with the tassels is just another beautiful decorator touch. Also, it gives a look of extra comfort and padding, like a well-made shoe gives the foot.
bbstx
Original Author
10 years ago
patricia43, wonderful description - a pancake of a cushion! That is precisely what it was. Both Sister's chairs and DD's chairs have cream damask seats. I think if the non-needlepoint side of the cushion were velvet, there would not be much slipping. Do you agree?

I hate for the needlepoint canvases to languish in a closet somewhere, as they are now. They are classic della robbia patterns. Each chair is slightly different.

btw, I hear needlepoint is set to make a resurgence in home decorating.
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Annie Deighnaugh
10 years ago
Of course the other alternatives are to have them framed or made into pillows....
Annie Deighnaugh
10 years ago
I checked the ones I have...04, 07, and 09 and no mention of a Dallas home...I flipped through them and didn't see any DR chairs like you mentioned.
Annie Deighnaugh
10 years ago
Was this it?

Here is a link that might be useful: dining room
bbstx
Original Author
10 years ago
Nice room, but that isn't it. The chairs were Chippendale, IIRC, and the cushions were needlepointed. The room was decorated for Christmas.
peony4
10 years ago
What a lovely inheritance, bbstx!

I like Annie's idea of framing them. A simple frame for each, and hung symmetrically 3 over 3, would showcase each one's unique pattern.
bbstx
Original Author
10 years ago
LOOK WHAT I FOUND!! Something about my prior post triggered a memory of having put a file folder in DH's study yesterday. The picture was in it. We are in the throes of moving into a new house. I hardly know where anything is, but I had handled this file without looking at its contents yesterday.

Obviously, I would make a poor witness! The cushions are not needlepoint. They are the same fabric as the chairs. The chairs are not Chippendale; they are Queen Anne. But I did get the Christmas decorations part right! The page is undated, so I don't know if I were in the correct date range or not.

I think the same thing could be accomplished with needlepoint, don't you?
patricianat
10 years ago
Yes, I think if they were velvet that would prevent slipping and the bbstx picture is close but not exact (pancakes without tufting). I know exactly what you are talking about. Please do it. Your children, grandchildren whomever may inherit them and want to use them for chairs that are not upholstered and they can still do that or they may want to use them in other ways. You could still use them for throw pillows with a little dinking around later.

This post was edited by patricia43 on Thu, Mar 6, 14 at 11:23