Austin designer Wendy Conklin utilizes color and a vintage aesthetic to craft her charming chairs.
By Chantal Rice, Photos courtesy of Aino Photography and Wendy Conklin
Wendy Conklin has long had a love affair with chairs. And her colorful, charming and entirely eye-catching furniture pieces prove she’s not one to shy away from the bold, the vibrant or the harlequin. Sparked by her irrepressible and Technicolor dreams, Conklin launched her business, Chair Whimsy, which features her line of exquisitely designed, antique-inspired chairs dressed in stunning mixes of vivid, cheerful colors and luxe fabrics.
It all began when Conklin was in search of unique furniture to bedeck her home but found custom pieces to be unattainable. So, she began studying upholstery, teaching herself from a book until she could enroll in several courses, later realizing her goal of becoming a designer, employing the upholstery medium to create her fantastic pieces.
Inspired by color, fashion and the boost of adrenaline associated with the quest for buried antique treasures, Conklin delights in new fabrics and their interplay with her chair designs, and masterfully crafts chairs that are at once whimsical yet sophisticated.
An artist and creative at heart, Conklin, who embraces the fanciful in both her life and her work, finds her imagination often strikes at the most unexpected times: while she is exercising, in the shower or on a quiet drive in her vibrant green Volkswagen Beetle.
It’s amazing how chairs can bring so much joy to people, especially chairs with color and a touch of whimsy. These are the chairs that become the statement pieces in a room. And everything else can fall in line.
For more information about Conklin and Chair Whimsy, visit chairwhimsy.com