Posts tagged ‘chairs’
A Chair for Elton
This is the before and after of the chair I saved from the dumpster. It wasn’t a true ‘dumpster dive’ since, technically, the abandoned chair was sitting next to the dumpster. But, it was a classic salvage and refinish project. I could not make up my mind on which direction to take this. I toyed with keeping the original seat color (mauve) which was in good condition. I pulled out all my seat fabrics and kept putting together likely pairs like similar color schemes (pink to mauve and avocado to olive) which were just ho-hum. I have a ton of red velvet so I contemplated going with a red seat and a white chair, like the Queen’s throne in Alice in Wonderland. But, then I stumbled across this crazy tiger print canvas fabric in orange and hot pink. I’ve never put it to use, but I have yards of it. Since I only have the single chair, I thought it could really be loud and be a stand-alone accent piece for someone REALLY daring or maybe for a funky hair salon type atmosphere. Anyway, the refinishing was short and sweet. Here’s the quick breakdown:
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BEFORE
Removed broken pieces
- Tightened and reglued connections
- Reinforced weak leg and arm joints
- Applied sandable wood filler on ding-ed areas
- Lightly sanded
- 1 can gray acrylic spray primer
- 1 can Krylon Bauhaus Orange acrylic spray
- Power staple gunned new fabric on seat
AFTER!
So glad I took the time to put on a new seat fabric. I HIGHLY recommend investing in a power staple gun if you plan to refinish. It is so much more pleasurable to work with than the manual gun. I regret using a grey primer as a base. The white primer was more expensive, but would have given me a crisper orange color. The Krylon Bauhaus Orange is lovely, but pretty sheer. OK, hope you like it as much as I! It will go into my new booth space 37A at Antiques & Things 4710 Central Ave. Oh, my Chinese Vanity sold for full price from the consignment shop–whohoo!
faux friend is new again
BEFORE
I picked this vinyl chair up in the clearance center of Goodwill for $2 a couple of years ago because it had this wonderful chrome base and an appealing shape to the chair. It was in dire need of reupholstering, but I kept putting it off because I never felt my upholstery skills were up to honoring the complex, clean shape of the chair. Upon starting this blog, I was reinvigorated to try to tackle my little chair.
I found an inspiring scarlet-sketch print at Walmart for $1.50/yd. I began to pull and coax the fabric around the chair back. The only way I could maintain the clean lines of the original upholstery was to sew the cover to custom fit the back. But, I knew I would be disappointed with the results if I attempted that–too many places for imperfection. So I conceded to do a no-sew project that would have to incorporate exposed upholstery nails somewhere. Once I accepted that fact, the covering went quickly.
I used all the existing foam supplemented with some thin quilter’s batting. I used an electric staple gun to anchor everything and tidied up the arm area using small dome shaped chrome upholstery tacks anchored by the dainty blow of an upholstery hammer (If you don’t own one, get one–they are fun). The fabric has a good tooth to it, so I sealed the whole chair (especially parts that will be exposed to a lot of handling) with a water-resistant stain guard. I was apprehensive about the upholstery looking amateur, but I’m pleased with the results. ~Sean
AFTER 1
AFTER 2
$10 wicker bench ready for Broadway!
BEFORE
AFTER
It was supposed to be a quick repaint job. But thanks to my impatience, it took me weeks to get it right. Concept: remove cushions, scuff-sand, paint a contrasting color, paint clear coat, replace cushions.
SPRAY PAINT SAGA: ACRYLIC VS ENAMEL
I’m thrifty, so I was using collected spray paint from my shed. I wasn’t too concerned with whether it was flat, satin or gloss since I’d be finishing with a good clear coat of gloss. I put two coats of black acrylic spray on successfully. But, the third can happened to be ENAMEL. I had never stopped to consider the difference between enamel and acrylic sprays. Well, it turns out, they are vastly different. As I sprayed what was supposed to be the touch up coat over the thus far pristine surfaces of my black bench, it began to bubble and foam like a witches brew and wrinkle like a witches face. Son of a witch. So, I waited another hour and went back to sand the malformed areas. I began to sand and as the heat from the friction of the sanding increased, the wrinkled, bubbled areas became gobby, lumpy messes.
At this point, I was desperate enough to do something I hardly ever do–I read the directions on the can of paint. It turns out, with Enamel spray paint, it is best to put a second coat on either within the first hour OR wait 48 hours for the paint to fully cure. Enamels are oil based and have MUCH longer drying and curing times than acrylics. But, the benefit is that the finish is shinier and more durable, a trade-off my patience is rarely willing to make. Because of the vastly different drying rates, it is unadvisable to layer either paint on the other without allowing for complete cure time of the base layer. But, I also suspect that because of the oil based nature of enamel, it may act as a solvent to even fully dried acrylic base coats as I finally did let all undercoats cure completely and still had problems with wrinkling and bubbling. Well, after several more rounds of sanding and painting (acrylics only), it’s satisfactory.
I was most happy with the sophisticated color palette. I opted to leave the back cushion off. It emphasizes the horizontality of the bench and invites the new owner to play with some throw pillows (and I know you love to play with throw pillows, Beth). I plan to bring the bench to the furniture consignment later this week. My dh does not approve of wicker anything, so we will not be adopting this particular piece.
BEFORE
AFTER
Q Project: mid-century modern recliner
Last summer my sister was kind enough to give me one of her unused mid-century modern recliner chairs. I loved the simple lines of the chair but couldn’t move past the black painted frame. One afternoon while my dh took the kids out for a treat at The Frontier Mart in Corrales, I decided to grab my nifty palm sander and gave this classic chair a much-needed face-lift. My intuition told me that once the paint was removed I would expose a beautiful wood. Come to find out, I was right!
Initially, I was thinking of reupholstering the chair with a funky fabric pattern similar to the re-upholstered Milo Baughman chair posted in Apartment Therapy. What do you think?
~Beth
$5 canvas chairs get a new outfit
Finished sewing new cushions for my $5 chairs (that’s $5 for the pair of chairs)! I dyed this fun modern print yellow to tone the colors down. Happy with the results. Oh so comfy and just the right height for the wee ones. ~ Sean
BEFORE
AFTER
first Q project!
BEFORE $10
Picked up this sweet little beauty (chair;) at a yard sale for $10. It’s hydraulic and heavy, but was in good condition. My family goes back 5 generations in the Spanish Colonial Arts. My brother is a tinsmith and I’ve trained as a retablo artist (icons of the saints painted on wood boards). I love the art and I also love juxtaposing the iconography with modern themes. The image from this chair is the one that appears in our banner.
The chair is currently at a furniture consignment house frequented by Hollywood studio types retailing for $400 🙂 So maybe you’ll see it again In Plain Site 😉
~ Sean
hand painted acrylic "Our Lady of Guadalupe" icon.
Our Lady Of Guadalupe Detail
Our Lady of Guadalupe detail 2
Q Projects 
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