Chris Packer and Selina Samuels live in a Victorian era cottage in the heart of Sydney. With tall sweeping ceilings and large windows throughout, the home is bathed in natural light. As an artist, Chris’s artworks hang on the walls throughout the home, introducing vibrant colours at every turn. 

But when the couple moved into the home, they were faced with the challenge of filling the large space between the picture rails and the skirting boards. 

“We didn’t have much furniture but I needed to fill the walls,” recalls Chris. “So I measured the biggest paintings I could find and then it all went from there. We matched the sofa to the paintings and introduced elements that worked together in the space.” 

The matching sofa that Chris and Selina chose for their living room was the King Living Delta. Now 12 years down the track, the couple has decided to make the most of the ease of the King Care service to recover the sofa. 

Chris shares his insights on colour, his experience with the Delta Sofa and his decision to recover the sofa for a new colour journey. 

Chris’s much-loved Delta Sofa before it’s new cover makeover.

A life of colour

Chris’ love affair with colour started as a rebellion of sorts while he was at art school. He recalls the moment when he first started his experimentation with colour. 

“At art school, we spent a lot of time copying old paintings,” he says. “The colours are all very ochrey and I was getting quite tired of it. One day I started painting with lurid colours. It was very satisfying so I pursued it.” 

Chris was playing around with reflective colour and eventually developed a technique of painting on cotton tape. He raised the tape above the surface of the canvas, leaving a little space with the colour facing the canvas. The colour reflected on the canvas, creating a glow. 

“To get the effect I wanted, I needed to use very high chroma colours,” he explains. “I like the fact that there’s this sort of liveliness to the work because of the colour.” 

Chris’s artworks bring vibrant colours at every turn. Featuring the Delta Sofa Chair Module and Delta Platform Table.

Styling with art

When Chris and Selina moved into their home, the front of the house became a gallery to display Chris’ artwork. They worked around the paintings in the space, collecting things to suit the works in each room. 

Chris says that while his paintings are all quite different, they do speak to each other. There’s a basic set of base colours in each room, which form what is essentially a theme or a story.  

“They’re like a crowd and there’s different bits and pieces that connect,” he explains. “The yellow in one painting speaks to the yellow in other paintings. Each curated collection has a story that hangs it together. One of the paintings might not be the same as the others at all, but because of that one little bit of similar colour, it still sits within the collection as part of the story.” 

When they renovated the back of the house, the couple matched the decor to some black antique furniture that they wanted to keep in the space. 

“We’ve got this restricted colour palette with the black,” he says. “But then you can throw in some colour and the colours can dance together in different ways. They don’t all have to be the same or even in the same school if you’ve got a whole lot going on.” 

Before (Left) and after. Delta Sofa recovered in Amalfi Blush fabric.

New life for an old sofa

Over the years, the Delta Sofa Chris and Selina chose all those years ago has served them well in many different iterations.  

The sofa has lived in the sunroom, been used as a guest bed and now has pride of place in the living room. 

“We’ve configured the Delta Sofa in every way possible,” says Chris. “When we have parties, we can reconfigure the sofa to suit and then put it back together when the party’s over. We had it in the spare room as a sofa that converted to a double bed, which was great when we had nieces and nephews come to stay.” 

As a much-loved piece of furniture, it was time for Chris and Selina’s Delta to receive a refresh with new covers. 

“When we originally purchased the sofa, it spent many years in our sunroom sitting in full sun,” admits Chris. “We regretted not getting the UV treatment. We also had an ageing cat who left her mark on the sofa.”

Chris’s newly recovered Delta Sofa in Amalfi Blush Fabric.

Working with King Care

So Chris embarked on the process of recovering the sofa, through King Care. He speaks highly of the service, saying that it’s one of the benefits of buying from King Living. And it’s a cost effective solution compared with buying a brand new sofa. 

“The sofa covers are all removable so the recovering process is really straightforward from a customer perspective,” he says. 

Once Chris had located the legacy tag on his sofa, the King Care team were able to find Chris’ original order, design and sofa module sizes. Chris didn’t need to lift a finger. His King Care consultant handled everything from quoting to ordering the new covers and arranging a technician to come to Chris’ home and fit the covers. 

Featuring the Delta Sofa Chair Module and Delta Platform Table.

Explore new sofa covers

For their new covers, they’ve chosen Amalfi Blush, a pink textural fabric woven with orange, green, brown and white threads.  

“We had all the fabric swatches out on the floor, holding them up against the different furniture and paintings to see what worked best,” explains Chris. “In our living room, we have a lot of textured ceramics. I really like the accidental earthiness of Amalfi. Of course, we love the colour too! The texture and colour of the fabric tells its own story.” 

Mostly, Chris is looking forward to breathing new life into the sofa and enjoying it in his home for many more decades to come. 

Explore Chris's art online now.

Discover the Delta Sofa, view fabrics and finishes or learn more about the King Care team. 

For more inspiration, explore: 

• Discover tailor-made removable sofa covers 
• Sofa recovering: KING furniture recover service explained 
• King Living furniture fabric samples: find the best finishes for you