Local Review: My Adventures with Upholstery at the Eliot School in JP

I was itching to take some kind of art/design class this winter since I knew I would have TONS of free time with the hubs working a crazy rotation. I came across The Eliot School for Fine and Applied Arts, and was pleased to discover it is located literally at the end of my street.

The class options are AMAZING. They offer everything from photography to woodworking- all taught by seasoned professionals who usually work in their field during the day and teach classes in the evenings. There are programs offered to both adults and kids so it is very family friendly.

The building has been used as a school for the arts since the colonial era, and as soon as I walked it I felt at home. The walls are lined with woodworking tools, hammers, saws, paint, galore! Heaven...

I opted for taking an upholstery class since I have been dying to give it a try and I was too scared to tackle it without any help. Let me tell you- it was NO JOKE! That was probably the best work out I have had in years. It was an 8 week course (1 class per week) and I left every session pooped, but loved every minute!

With help and instruction from my teacher, Paul, I took a $25 Craigslist chair and gave it a serious face lift.

Before

After

I would love to give you a step-by-step tutorial, but honestly I don't know if I could remember even a 1/4 of all the things I did along the way. It was an eye opening experience into the upholstery world, and now I completely understand why it cost $500+ to recover a chair. This takes some real skill that very few of us have.

Who knew that this is what your chair looks like when its stripped apart??

My only gripe about the Eliot School was that it cost a pretty penny to take the class- $300 for the class + about $75 for materials + $25 for my chair. I know you are probably saying, "For $400, why didn't you just buy a new chair?!". Honestly, it was not about the actual chair, it was about the experience and it was 100% worth those 400 smackers :)

You can check out this class and tons of other programs they have to offer at http://www.eliotschool.org/

XOXO Katie

Just an FIY- the fabric that I used on my chair was called Home Décor Love Twill Sandlewood Ivory by Amy Butler and I found it on Fabric.com. Love that site!

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