Sometime last year (or was it the year before?), I found a sad looking and lonely chair at the thrift store. I couldn't ignore its mid-century charm and potential, so I paid the $5.99 price tag and took 'er home. I had wished there were some matching chairs somewhere in the store, but they were nowhere to be found. I always wonder about those singleton chairs - how did they get separated from the rest?
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Pick me! |
The chair sort of sat around until I figured out exactly what I wanted to do with it. I decided that the desk needed its own unique chair, so I chose a cream and blue Moroccan inspired fabric remnant (in the sale bin, of course!) and a quart of paint in
'Jonquil Yellow'.
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The chosen fabric remnant and paint. |
The most disgusting (and interesting) part of this project was peeling the existing fabric off the chair seat. After removing the screws that held the seat in place, I used pliers to pluck the heavy metal staples from the bottom of the seat. There were three layers of fabric on this puppy - it seems like each layer was from a preceding decade. How neat to see home decor fashions peel away before your eyes! If I had known I'd be blogging about it, I would have taken pictures of the layers. But, since I didn't take pictures, just think of the most hideous (and rough) fabrics you can. When I finally got to the foam beneath the fabrics, the padding was disintegrating! Foam quickly turned into dust as I handled it. Gross. GROSS.
I traced the naked wooden seat on a large piece of new foam (most fabric stores carry different thicknesses of foam for upholstery and pillow-making). I used a 2" thick piece, which was just a personal preference. With a serrated knife, I cut a new piece of foam for the seat and stretched the fabric around it. I then secured the fabric in place by stapling it to the underside of the seat, making sure it was smooth after every staple or two.
The next step took quite a long time. I sanded the frame of the chair multiple times until I was satisfied that the paint would adhere properly. Over a few days (during baby nap time), I applied four thin coats of paint to the frame.
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Mom says they look like little cowboy boots. |
For me, the fun thing about giving furniture makeovers is that you discover unique oddities about each piece. For this chair, it was it's adorable metal leg caps. I wasn't sure I was going to keep them (I thought they were weird and ugly at first), but they totally grew on me and now I love them.
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At home, in front of my desk. |
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I love seeing furniture transformations. Have you undertaken any lately?
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