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One Fair Chair

August 12, 2009

I have a thing for French style chairs with pretty legs. I am drawn to any piece with traditional lines, and love to revamp something and give it modern flair. I really needed an extra chair in my new home office for a co-worker or a visitor. So when I spotted one on the floor of the local thrift store for $15, I quickly grabbed it with the intention of repainting and recovering the seat.

Here’s a glimpse of the Before and After:

Transforming A Thrift Store Chair:

Remove seat cushion and existing fabric. This seat was very well constructed so I needed both a screwdriver and pliers to remove the fabric.

I sanded the existing paint job to remove debris, varnish, and some chipping paint. Next, give the chair a coat of primer then two coats of spray paint. I chose (again) ‘Heirloom White’ by RustOleum.

I liked how the original chair had some hand painted elements highlighting the detail. I repeated the same effect with a small artist’s paintbrush, but with a more modern silver color.

I bought one yard of a textured aqua velvet Christopher Lowell fabric at Joann’s for 40% off with a coupon. Yippee, $15 dollars for gorgeous velvet! I made a pattern with my original fabric, and then stitched a strip of fabric to the pattern to form a new cover.

The pen was one with disappearing ink but stays visible for a few hours, long enough to sew along the lines.

I used my original foam, which was in great condition and lacked any odors. I stapled the new cushion cover to the underside of my seat base, then reattach my new seat cushion to chair.