Update With Upholstery

Leather Cube

Seating isn't the only thing that can be upholstered. A leather-covered cube, with decorative brass nailheads, makes a chic end table.

Rest Your Head

Curvy or straight, button-tufted or contrast-edged, contemporary or traditional, an upholstered headboard is as sensible as it is appealing. Create your own headboard with plywood, batting, and upholstery fabric, or have an upholsterer copy one from a photo.

Frame the Wall

A relatively simple alternative to an upholstered headboard is to pad, upholster, and frame the patch of wall behind the bed. This designer also upholstered the spaces beside the bed, playing up the way the bed is set into the wall of windows.

Contrasting Seats

Who says you have to pick just one fabric per chair? A contrasting seat and back add character to this dining chair.

Coordination

These armchairs' coordinating patterns outside and inside give them a casual air.

Quick Change

Slipcovers are especially practical for dining chairs since they're easy to clean or replace. To dress up a simple wood chair, consider a skirted slipcover.

Define a Space

An upholstered floor screen makes a statement in any setting. This one is used to define a space rather than divide it -- helping to turn a console table into a chic makeshift bar in this screened porch.

Advanced Patterns

Major advances in outdoor fabric technology have led to an explosion of available patterns and colors. Now outdoor rooms can be every bit as stylish and comfortable as those indoors.

Instant Seating

Whether a box, a bench, or a low stone wall like this one, any surface can become instant seating with the addition of an upholstered cushion.

Adapted from Design Idea Book, Oxmoor House 2007