Thursday, March 17, 2011

How to Make a Chair Pretty Again

If you’ve been wondering how I did this....


….you are in luck today!
(That’s my nod to St. Patrick’s day….weak…).

On a side note….Nate refuses to wear green today.  Mainly because he knows it irritates me.  We go through this every St. Patrick's day...husbands.


Maybe I’ll change the font to green to honor the occasion….

Here we go with the chair make-over....

Step 1: Flip the chair over and unscrew the seat cushion…I forgot to take a picture of this during the before….baby blog steps…

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You now have 2 pieces..the chair and cushion…

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Step 2: Remove the lovely fabric from cushion.  This involves removing/loosening 100 staples or tiny upholstery nails.

I usually don’t bring these nasty chairs into my house until I’m done with them because I don’t know what is living in them…
but I was living on the edge with this one…I figured vinyl was safe….and I had an investigator checking for any problems...

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Step 3:  Use the nasty old fabric as a template for your new cover.  Cut fabric.

Step 4: Staple new fabric onto cushion.  Try not to staple the dog...

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Step 5: Clean, sand, prime, and paint the chair. (Read more detailed instructions here.)

I spray painted this chair because it had a lot of nooks and crannies. This was the first furniture piece that I used spray paint on.

After sanding, I started with the first coat of Kilz primer. 
I'm not sure if I didn't sand enough or if I was too impatient with the primer but it ran...A LOT.  I let it dry, sanded down the drips, and started over.

I learned that it’s important to do a nice, thin, even coat…then check a few blogs, do some laundry, take a nap, and then do another nice, even coat…or two. 
Patience is a virtue...one that I do not possess.  So this was hard.

Spray painting is nice though because each step is quick.  I have the attention span of a gerbil so this project ended up being perfect for me. 

After the primer, I did 2 coats of spray paint and let the chair dry.


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Step 6: Screw the cushion back onto the chair and you’re done. 

I told you it was easy. 

Any questions???

More importantly, do you have a significant other/family member/friend who is also a fun hater on this day of green?

6 comments:

  1. Hi, I came over from d dzine. The minute I saw your blog header on her blog post I knew I needed to visit. I have a wire hair fox terrier too and that side head tilt photo you have of your dog so reminds me of mine! They are wonderful dogs aren't they!!
    Your chair turned out great and I love your kitchen pictures in your previous post.
    I'm going to follow along to keep up with you and your dog:)
    Jane

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  2. No green haters here, lol! I look like the friggin grinch today.

    I am so doing this project. I will be at Goodwill hunting for a victim, er, I mean chair!

    Question. Did you sand the nooks & crannies too? That's the only part that I'm not looking forward to.

    You are my sister from another mister! I am the least patient person on the planet.

    Great tutorial. Thanks Peach!
    xo
    Mindy

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  3. Ryan refuses to wear green. Or red of Valentine's Day. Or really any other color on any other day. He dances to his own beat, that boy.

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  4. @Mindy- I only sand areas that are super glossy. Luckily for me, the nooks and crannies were already pretty worn!

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  5. I stumbled across your blog and ended up reading the whole thing start to finish! I adore your house - it's beautiful. Would you mind emailing me the name of the paint color in your dining room, and what kind of finish you used? I LOVE it, and want to use it in my boys' new nautical themed room. My email is jenbell37@yahoo.com. Thanks so much!

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  6. I just ran across your blog and I'm loving it! The chair re-do is great and something even I have the patience to do. I'm your newest follower :)

    xo,
    Laurie :)

    p.s. And your dog is the cutest dog I've ever seen!! And I have two pretty cute ones myself... don't tell them I said that :)

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