Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Trash to Treasure

 A long time ago, I mentioned that I had snagged a couple of chairs from the side of the road. There was nothing wrong with them but a bit of ugly.



The mission was to paint and change the fabric. So off came the cushion. And the chair was sanded. (I could have sworn I took pictures of this part, but I can't find them.)

I used Rustoleum's Heirloom White spray paint. Each chair took a can and a half. I'm not getting perked to say this, but I think the claim that a can of Rustoleum covers twice as much as other brands is true. I does seem to cover more than others, but that said, you have to go with what you like.


After painting, I decided to distress them a bit. I just hit them in the places that might sustain wear with my hand sander, Hermes. Yes, I named him. Doesn't everyone name their tools?


And remember how I waxed poetic about finishing wax in this post? (Pun intended, of course!) I rubbed on a coat of the wax paste, let it dry about fifteen minutes, and then buffed. I love how wax finishes pieces!


On to the cushion. I needed my new fabric, scissors, and a staple gun. Staple guns are awesome and useful for so many things. Seriously, go get one if you don't have one.


I laid my cushion on my fabric and cut around to size with a few extra inches all around.


Then I stapled one staple in the center of each side. Pull taut, but don't over do it. If you have a pattern like my toile you risk making the pattern skewed.


Then I worked along the front and stapled across the whole side, then back and then each side. For the corners, staple in very close to the corner. Fold and tuck the excess fabric (not unlike wrapping a present), 

pull tight and staple like crazy.


Once secure, trim excess fabric. And repeat with the other corners. 


You will have something like this:

Now it's time to re-screw the cushion to the chair.


I really love the toile with the distressed white chair.


And the distressing worked, but I think it was more dramatic on the black desk.

I like the desk and I like the chair, but the jury is still out on whether or not I like them together. I never really planned on keeping the chairs, I just didn't think they should be trashed. I may still just sell them.

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13 comments:

  1. Very pretty! I have chairs that need recovering...I'll get to it... eventually. lol

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  2. Your found chair is now very lovely! I'm inspired to do a bench I've had for months now that you make it look so easy!

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  3. love this chair-toile is my absolute favorite!! I'm your newest follower!

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  4. This chair turned out lovely! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. These came out great!!! I am visiting from Not JUST A Housewife and I am a new follower!! I hope you have a great week and that I see you around soon!
    Michelle
    www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

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  6. Wow! I love how the chairs turned out. So pretty! I need to do a project like this sometime.
    Take care,
    Shauna
    myshaenoel.blogspot.com

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  7. I'm working on a desk chair and painting it Cottage White by Behr, loved seeing how yours turned out! Love the toile fabric, still haven't found fabric that I love for mine!

    somethingniceandpretty.blogspot.com

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  8. Oh I love toile! This turned out awesome!

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  9. I'm such a sucker for toile! The chair looks fantastic especially against the black desk. Thanks so much for sharing this at Inspiration Friday this week!
    Vanessa

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  10. What a difference some paint and new material can do!! Great makeover. I always love your projects!!

    Thanks so much for linking up to Strictly Homemade Tuesday. I hope to see you this Tuesday. Cheers!

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  11. Beautiful transformation! It's amazing what some people put out on the curb, but thank goodness they do!

    BTW, what type of wax do you like to work with?

    Thank you for linking up to "A Little Birdie Told Me..."!

    Jenn

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  12. Great chairs! Thanks so much for linking to the Tuesday To Do Party!
    Smiles!
    Jami
    www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com

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