It's a New Year and a New Life for an Old Chair!

I found this old chair on a local Facebook garage sale site and I knew I could make it look good again!

I loved the detail it had, but it was in bad need of a refresh! I decided to re-do it and give it to my daughter for Christmas. I knew exactly what I was going to recover it with! She had made a comment several times how much she liked this Waverly Ikat fabric.

I was lucky enough to find a couple remnants at Hobby Lobby that was more than enough to makeover this chair! I had my husband help me with tightening all the screws and gluing a couple spots to make sure it would be sturdy for her. The next step was to remove the seat and to paint the frame. I decided I wanted it to be black,  I used Rustoluem 2X Satin Canyon Black.

After wiping down the whole chair to make sure there was no dust I gave it two coats to make sure I got good coverage.

 

After the paint was dry I decided to distress it in the spots where it would have shown wear if this was the original finish.

 

While the paint was drying I went back inside to re-upholster the seat cushion. Usually I would use the old fabric as a guide for cutting the new cover but the old cover was vinyl and it was pretty brittle. The old cushion had seen its better days too, so it all went right to the trash. I used the wooden seat bottom as a pattern to cut new foam. I used an old mattress pad we had, that we no longer used. (**hint** mattress pads are an inexpensive way to get large pieces of foam and a lot cheaper than foam from the fabric store) I decided to use a double layer of foam to make the seat nice and cushy.

 

Then I measured out batting wide enough to wrap the foam and secure to the seat bottom.

Next I began stapling the batting to the under side of the seat working opposite sides back and forth and pulling the batting tight and even, leaving a few inches from each corner free to work the corner.

 

Once all four sides were secured, I started to work the corners. I usually fold mine like wrapping a present. There are many ways to do this but just work it until it looks nice and lays neatly, then staple.

After all the corners were finished I trimmed off the excess fabric.

After the batting was trimmed I repeated the above steps with the fabric covering. My fabric had a large pattern so I made sure it was centered nicely before I cut out the piece I was using.

 

Here is the under side once the fabric was secure and trimmed.

This is the top side before attaching it to the chair.

Now all that was left to do was to attach it back to the frame of the chair.

I also had enough fabric to make a little pillow to match.

I think it turned out so cute and she loved it! 😍 

I hope this gives you inspiration to upcycle an old 'ugly' piece to make it new, fresh, and to give it a new life! Make sure to check out my blog at Karensays.net 

                                                      Happy New Year! 🎉

Posted in: DIY,Trash to Treasure