November 26, 2007

The Cover-Up

Chair Couture

Are there days when you loll on the Louis XIV settee wishing there was a way to upgrade to something more conspicuous?

Time to talk to Margaret Elman, a furniture redresser with a super keen eye for color and shape.

We met her back when she was reupholstering French antiques with wildly bold fabrics in her apartment. But her latest collection is truly outrageous. Elman is now designing textiles (from nature-inspired photographs) in recycled polyester and organic cotton, which she then uses to redo vintage pieces.

Aquamarine water ripples, bright green grass blades, mottled tree branches, and softly lit dandelion fields are magnified to sensational proportions on pieces like ornately carved bergères, a Prohibition-era chaise lounge, and a 1930s French Country bed frame.

It’s one-of-a-kind functional artwork. And it’s absolutely pricey.

But if you won’t stand for it, you’ll have to sit down.

Available at Distant Origin, 153 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince Streets (212-941-0024); online at chaircouture.com.