An Upholstered Wall

Yes, kids, we really do have padded walls at the Cheap Chic Homestead--I'm sure you've always suspected...

Do you recognize the fabric?  You've seen it before, promise.  If you're jumping up and down saying "Foyer!  Foyer!" you've had too much coffee for the day, or you're right!

I've had this post in the back of my mind since I started my blog, but this buys me some time for my slipcovers and other projects seemed like a great time to let you in on my fabric shenanigans.

When we first moved in, the foyer wall was screaming "Fabric!" to me (remember the show If Walls Could Talk?  Yeah, it was based on my foyer).  There were so many hard flat surfaces, I was craving softness in this area.  I wanted fabric, but I didn't want to hang it from a curtain rod, because I wanted to hang artwork by nailing the hangers right into the wall.  That's how I came up with this "wall treatment."   (The nails go in at the cross-hatch embroidery on the fabric.) 

This little project was harder than I would have thought.  These are the materials I used:

• Lathing strip (those thin strips of wood that are about the dimensions of a yard stick)
• Screws
• Staple Gun
• Lining Fabric
• Thick batting
• Show Fabric
• Spray adhesive

First I screwed the lathing strip into the top of the wall at the studs.  To prepare the fabric, I sewed the widths together, leaving the widest width of the fabric in the middle and the pieces at the sides.

Then I used spray adhesive to glue the batting to the lining.  I was going to sandwich the batting between the fabric, but didn't like stapling into the batting, so I reversed the process.  Starting at the wall, the layers are batting, lining, show fabric.

The above isn't the best picture, but if you click on it, you may be able to see I ended up giving it a rather rough hand stitching at the hem edge.

After I got the batting and lining up, I attached the show fabric.  Originally, I was going to gather it all along the top, but the weight and size of the fabric was so hard to handle, I left it flat in the center and gathered the sides only, above.  It was probably more difficult because of the size of the area I covered.  It's about 12' by 7'.   I was going to put some braiding or cording up there to hide the staples, however, 1) I truly cannot see the staples from the floor, and 2) I don't want to get back up there and you can't make me!

I almost forget to mention, I wanted to add a corbel to the end to give the spot a nice stopping point.  (Oh, and the ceiling is not white!  It is a paler shade of the wall color, it looks white in every single photo in this post-argh!)  This is really one of those display shelves that I happened to find at TJs used as a chunky corbel.  After I first hung it up, the kids would run past it to the stairs, 'cause it creeped them out!  Or, maybe they just wanted an excuse to run in the house...

Here are a couple of shots to help you get your bearings.  This (above) is from the living room.

This is from the front door, the bright sunlight to the right is from the windows in the dining room--which you've seen about a gazzillion times. 

A view from the upstairs.  If you'd like to see how we hung the chandelier, painted, or put the bedroom addition on, click the links.  Oops, almost forgot, instructions for slipcovering the chair are here, too.  If I did this again, I'd use a method where all of the fabric work is done at ground level, so all that's left is hanging. 

Isn't it pretty how it goes behind the console?  I guess it's not technically "upholstered" since it hangs free from the top.  Let's go with "wall treatment," that I mentioned earlier.  Note:  A couple of pictures were taken at a different time, so there's different artwork.

Since we're loitering hanging out in the foyer, I might as well show you my little foot stool.  This is the same fabric that's slipcovered on my family room chair.

This is what it looks like underneath, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, other than it was throwing off the "groove" of the space.  I found it at a consignment store and, if I remember correctly, paid too much.  You know I'm not afraid of sewing, but this little guy just wanted fabric draped on him.

I just hand pleated the corner and tied it in a square knot with cording.  Ahhh.

Pssst, wanna know a secret?  Come closer.  Really close.  I found some fabric this week that I'm thinking about putting on another wall.

There are a couple more fabric posts coming up. I assure you this isn't going to turn into a sewing blog, so hang in there.

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