The harder thing was figuring out where to hide the heart.The chair’s structure is fairly open and we like the way it looks. After playing around with various options I finally decided that I would start by making the heart a little smaller than commercially available options. I’m also giving the seat a much thicker pad than it had originally, which allows me to incorporate a secret compartment.

From here, it is much like a standard upholstery job. In fact, the top layer is the original padding from the chair, trimmed to allow access to the secret compartment.

When fully assembled, I’m not trying to hide the seam, but I am trying to make it look intentional. I have to pick up some different material for the seat because the plether I had on hand was way the heck too thick.

And there’s the rehearsal heart, tucked away inside its compartment.