Chair Transformation

Scott and I are a lot alike in many way, and agree on most of the important things.  However, in terms of style, we are not on the same page.  Scott likes very traditional decorations and furniture.  He likes matching dishes.  I like funky things, and kinda like the style of the 70's (but without the olive green, mustard yellow, and orange).  If I had my own way, I would buy all the unmatching, funky dishes I found at thrift stores, throw it all in the cupboard, and set the table using all different plates that don't match.

A few years ago in Pella I picked up this chair by the side of the road during spring clean-up, aka: Junk Days.  I know many towns have a spring or fall cleanup week where people can put all their old furniture and junk by the side of the road for the garbage man to pick up, and I'm sure in every town people go trolling around and picking up other people's junk.  But I think the quality of the "junk" in Pella is far and above the quality of any other town I've ever been to.  And the intensity of the people trolling around is higher than anywhere else as well...but that's another story. 

I like this chair.  I like the leaf pattern and the cool metal shape.  It is very sturdy.  However, the seat was a little ripped, and the children have made it "very ripped" as well as pulled out a lot of the padding.  I told Scott I was going to put a new cover over the seat, and his suggestion was that I just throw it away and buy a new chair!  I decided to fix it up first and see if he would change his mind.  And once I started taking off the seat, I figured I might as well do it all the way and cover the back and paint the metal as well.

Here is the chair in it's original condition

The seat was looking quite worn.

Isn't the shape of the metal nice?

My little helper.  She wants to use all the tools.

 I did this on a day that Scott was home and while Nicolas was sleeping.  Total work time was about 1 hour, plus another hour or more to let the spray paint dry.

I put some padding on the seat prior to covering it.  It would have been easier to use foam, but I had this on hand.  Laurel liked playing with the "snow."

Here is the finished seat bottom.  I used a staple gun to attach the fabric.

 I spray painted the legs black.  Then I spray painted the metal part silver.  Unfortunately, our can of silver spray paint was not functioning well, as as the paint sprayed out, it also gooped out the side, so I ended up with silver hands.  After I finished, I threw away the rest of the silver paint can, then we googled ways to get spray paint off your hands.  The secret?  Mix together olive oil and hand soap on a washcloth, and it rubs right off!

A beautiful model on the finished product!

Getting the fabric to lay nicely over the curved back was a little challenging.  I had to settle for having a few  tucks in the fabric, but I think it still looks fine.

And the seat still works well for playing the drums!

You may be wondering what Scott thinks of the chair now.  When I asked him, he said, "well, it's definitely a lot better than it was before!"

What a glowing recommendation!  I will take it!