Transform Any Chair with This Easy Western-Inspired Fringe Hack (for Only $28!)
With trends like Western Gothic and yeehaw core recently dominating design, fringe trim has become all the rage. You’ll find no shortage of fun fringed furniture from brands like Target, Urban Outfitters, and Wayfair as well as unique vintage styles on platforms like 1stDibs and Kaiyo. If you love this tassel-effect look, though, you don’t have to dole out hundreds (or thousands) on an entirely new piece — one viral hack shows how to re-create this look on an existing chair for less than $30.
Los Angeles-based designer Marco Zamora (@want.zamora) shared on TikTok that he wanted to DIY his own fringed furniture, starting with an existing velvet chair in his bedroom. He discovered that this specific trim is called bullion fringe, and it’s available in a range of different colors and sizes. After ordering a roll from Amazon, Zamora then used four insect pins — aka the thinnest ones he could find — on each side to secure the fringe to the bottom of the chair without damaging the upholstery.
“To make sure this looks custom, I made sure the fringe barely kissed the floor,” he noted in the video. After about 15 minutes of pinning and adjusting the trim so it looked straight all around, he had a brand-new-looking piece that only set him back $28 total — no sewing needed. “I completely transformed this chair — this looks exactly like my inspo photos,” he added.
It’s super easy to re-create this budget-friendly project on an upholstered chair — or even couch or ottoman — in your own home. Zamora opted for a bullion fringe that matched his accent chair for a chic monochromatic look, but you can also try a contrasting color, like an off-white trim paired with a dark green or light blue piece. This kind of trim looks particularly dramatic against velvet, but it would work well with any fabric, especially a patterned one. Once you’ve determined how high up on the piece you want the fringe to start, you can use that to inform the length of the fringe you choose.
BEL AVENIR Curtain Fringes
Just make sure you follow Zamora’s lead and use the tiniest pins possible. Otherwise, you run the risk of leaving permanent punctures on your furniture or even seeing the pins poking through the fringe. And when it comes to installing this trim, Zamora also started pinning from the back and worked his way around the rest of the chair.
This smart fringed furniture DIY gives any existing piece a fun, vintage-inspired touch, but it’s easily reversible — just unpin the fringe, and voilà! Your chair, sofa, or ottoman should still look good as new in its original form.
