Announcing the Winners of the Ugliest Chair Contest

We’re excited to announce the winner of The Spruce Ugliest Chair Contest, which Storey Publishing launched on Facebook in October. Audra Trautvetter had what Amanda judged as the ugliest – a wingback upholstered with duct tape (above)! The poor thing was Audra’s grandmother’s chair and has taken a beating over the years. She’ll be receiving a hand upholstery tool kit, $200 worth of fabric, a signed copy of Spruce: A Step-by-Step Guide to Upholstery and Design, and design recommendations from Amanda! We’re looking forward to see you give new life to that chair, Audra.

ugly chairs
We also have two runner-ups chosen by illustrator and designer Kimberly Hall, who publicized the contest on her blog Nottene. Kimberly couldn’t decide between Kelley Christensen’s ’90s jewel-tone wingback (above, left) that’s been in Kelley’s family since she was born and Lauren Russo’s wooden chair (above, right) that was her aunt’s late father’s, so each will receive custom illustrations of their chairs so they can remember the, err, good ol’ days. Want a custom illustration of your old mementos and heirlooms? Visit Kimberly’s website to learn more.

Last but not least, we’d like to give a shout-out to the chair we think has a ton of potential. The Sprucettes are in agreement that this unique, curvaceous chair from Kristen Blome Cheli could be a total knockout!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest, to all of the bloggers who promoted the contest, and to Storey Publishing for spearheading it. We had a lot of fun looking at all of the entries submitted, including faded, saggy vintage chairs that were family mementos and just needed a little love to dirty, smelly chairs ripped and stained by furry friends. We even received an entry “loaded with spider egg sacks!” Take a look at all of the entries here.