This chair was a monumental find for me.
It was my first roadside find. I found it even before I found my metal cabinet that I turned into craft storage.
I was just, ummmm, slow, very slow about getting around to fixing it.
I think the wait was worth it though – I love how this chair makeover turned out.
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Where I live, there just don’t seem to be many roadside finds. I’ve been on the lookout for the better part of ten years and have found two to date.
I was so excited about this that I had my friend snap a picture when I was picking it up.
I’m a dork like that.
As with all things that seem too good to be true, this chair did have a flaw. The back legs looked to be missing their feet. They were both angled off.
To fix them, I chopped them off to make the back legs flat, then drilled a hole and put in feet from a table I had bought at a yard sale that I didn’t need.
After I fixed the feet, I stripped all the fabric off the chair, then gave it a coat of primer, then a couple coats of Dragon Fruit by Behr in a gloss finish. I used my HomeRight Finish Max Pro to do all the painting.
Next was the fun part, upholstering. I was really excited about the fabric I chose – Houndstooth Black Fabric.
However, I was worried about upholstering this chair – perhaps why I had put it off for so long?
If you noticed the back of this chair was tufted. I was terrified of tufting. I had never once attempted it.
Now, I am so mad at myself for not trying it before – it was so easy!
Before attempting the actual tufting, I took the old buttons and wrapped them in the houndstooth fabric with hot glue.
‘Cause I’m a professional like that.
For the tufting:
First, I cut a piece of fabric that was about double the size of the back. You don’t need that much – I was just worried about not having enough. Then, I poked my buttons through, starting in the middle and working my way out.
You can see in #3 how it looks on the backside. You put a little disk through the metal prongs, then spread them out. After I had all the tufting done, I trimmed the fabric and stapled it around the edges, then trimmed it out, like I did on my Jonathan Adler inspired chair.
Next, I started on the seat. You can see the layers of everything below. Because I hate to sew anything that isn’t a straight line, I used the old seat cushion to trace out a new piece of foam and just made the whole seat one piece.
Before doing any of the main seat upholstery, I did these little patches on the side.
Then, I just cut a large piece of fabric, pulled, and stapled around the bottom of the chair as necessary.
I love the combination of the pink paint with the houndstooth fabric. I think it would be perfect for a little girl’s room.
I kept the trim a simple black just because there was so much color going on with the pink.
Have you ever done a chair makeover with a roadside find?
More Chair Makeovers & Upholstery Posts You Might Want To See:
How to Waterproof & Repel Stains on Fabric
How to Upholster a Cane Chair (Jonathan Adler Inspired)
You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.
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