This is the chair's first day with me, I was up most of the night taking it apart down to the frame. As you can see it had fantastic potential but it was hidden under a really old and run-down exterior.
Contrary to most chair reconstructions, this one required the back to be put on first. I chose the butterfly print because it was such a bright and happy pattern and it registers as a diamond design from far away. The candy apple green has always been one of my favorites and they look so great together!
Here the bottom is put in (underneath the frame, another very strange design feature) and the batting has been laid over the back.
Tada! The finished product. This piece turned out so fantastically well. It has two cushions (one sits down into the frame and is virtually hidden) that make it so comfortable and the top cushion is fully reversible with the candy apple green on the other side! I love this Asian inspired chair and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Cushions are my least favorite thing but I think I really really improved on them in this project. 
This is how it began, with the original seat, etc.
Here is the beautiful back after a lot of sanding and painting. The paint used is an oil-based satin finish white called "Highlands White."
Here is the finished product...the entire frame was sanded and prepped, with several paint layers and some slight distressing applied to the edges. The original seat base fit really well and was solid so I kept the same base and padded it with a high-density, high-quality foam base. It was covered with a white cotton fabric and then double padded with a stunning dupioni silk Lori chose off Etsy in a beautiful mild peach. It turned out absolutely perfectly, this chair is now happy in California!
This is how it began...pretty shabby.
Here all the fabric has been taken off but the filler is still in there and the nasty old cushion. 
By this point it's been stripped down and the wood has been cleaned as well. The whole front has been put in and tufted with the seat put in as well.
Though you can't see it the back here is put on (always the last step!) and this is the finished chair without its cushion. The gimping and hand nailing turned out incredibly well!
This chair's cushion made me swear off cushions forever (of course I'm working on another one right now :), it was so impossible. It was completely built from scratch, obviously, as the old one was thrown away. The fabric on this piece is called "wildcat" and is very classy and exotic! I really enjoyed working on this one and right now it is in California with it's proud new owner, Katherine!
It began a Craigslist find from a dealer one town over. It looks pretty good in this picture but the upholstery was worn really badly and torn.
This chair went all the way down to the springs as I wanted to redo the wood a little bit as well. It was a nasty yellowish tint before and now it is a lovely antiqued amber.
The seat was rebuilt from all new materials and I chose this fabulous "harlequin" pattern that I had been saving for just the perfect match.
This is the back, I never trust backs without extra support so I added some straps to make it even more sturdy.
The finished product...after french-tufting, rope welting and a million feet it seems of nailhead trim. So beautiful and so elegant.
This chair began its life as a high-quality Flexsteel armchair that was being discarded because of how vile the fabric was. 
Modern chairs are actually much more difficult to take apart that vintage ones. The backs are put on with machines using a kind of metal bracket that attaches from the inside. Terrible stuff to deal with!
This is it after all the welting has been applied, the back closed and the tufting put in the backrest. This tufting is super unique as it is my own design. It actually serves to make this chair incredibly comfortable, as the tufting pulls the back in exactly where most people's scapular would hit the chair, very comfy! This chair is now happy in California with Jana!
