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Monday, July 19, 2010

My DIY Chair Renovation!

Last week I told you guys about my thrift store find here...a basic wooden chair I purchased for only $7.95!

Well I finished it up this past weekend and I LOVE the way it came out!  The first thing I had to decide on is what color I wanted to paint the chair and what fabric I wanted to use to cover the seat.  Awhile ago I fell in love with an accent chair at the furniture store that I thought would go perfect in our bedroom. See below:

Too cute right?  However, the chair is $349!!  So I decided to get a throw pillow in that print for the bed, let a little time pass, and then try to convince the hubby to agree to letting me get a chair that I wanted mainly for aesthetics, one we really didn't "need" (hard sell...lol)

Honestly, I didn't really want us to spend that much on one chair either so I decided to let that be my inspiration chair for this project.  Since I couldn't find the exact fabric anywhere, I purchased another throw pillow ($19.99)  and cut it open to use to cover my seat cushion.  Here is the pillow before I cut it open:
I used an Exacto knife (or you can use a seam ripper) and cut the seams to take the pillow apart:
I cut the seams around the entire pillow. Now the fabric looks like this:
I have two pieces of fabric--the front and back of the pillow.  But I had a problem. One of the pieces alone didn't cover the entire seat cushion.  So I cut strips from the other piece of fabric to add to the other.  Then I sewed those pieces to three sides of the fabric. Luckily I didn't need to add too much.
After sewing them on, its time to cover my seat cushion.  First, I removed the seat cushion from the chair frame.  This is really easy...flip the chair over and remove screws.  Remember, before buying a chair to "re-do" , check to make sure it will be easy to remove cushion and easy to reattach.  Once the cushion is out,  I got my spray glue out and sprayed it on the cushion. You can also add extra padding as well. I was going to do that but forget to get the materials from the store...lol.  Anywho, after I spray glued cushion, I attached fabric...making sure I left fabric hanging off edges of each side. Next I folded over the edges and glued them down on back side...see below:

Then I went around the edges and stapled fabric down.  All done with that piece!

For the chair's frame, I decided to go with black.  Make sure to sand down your furniture before painting old furniture....then wipe it off with a little soap and water to make sure all the particles are gone.  Let it dry and now you are ready to paint! I like immediate results so I opted to use spray paint.  I went with Rust Oleum Lacquer spray paint from Home Depot ...$4.98.  I ended up using the whole bottle!

Once the paint has thoroughly dried, it was time to pop my newly covered seat cushion back in! I also decided to cover the arms of the chair a little too. I didn't take any pics of that but it was easy... just used some leftover fabric and a glue gun (a crafter's best friend...lol). Check out the finished product!!  Not bad for a total of  $33.00 spent... I'd say it gives my inspiration chair a run for its money!! :)

 What do you think?

10 comments:

  1. WOW! It looks GREAT! I'm totally impressed!
    And for THAT price! I think I just fell in love even more!
    :)
    I'm so proud of all these crafty, thrifty ladies that can turn just "okay" things into AMAZING pieces of decor and art!
    Totally inspired!
    Thank you so much for sharing this with me :)
    ~Shelley Smith
    houseofsmiths.blogspot.com

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  2. wow! thats an awesome turn around! now can you come and do mine!lol

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  3. Nneka...I continue to be amazed at your creativity....

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  4. That was awesome Nneka! I may have to hire you as a consultant when I'm ready to move from the outside to the inside of my house. ;)

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