Do You Have An Old Chair That Needs A Little Spruce Up Or Some TLC?
Well thanks to my fellow stagers for inspiring me to tackle this project I now have a new chair for my room. I now can share how easy this for my clients too! So thank you Ginger Foust, Sharon Tara & other creative stagers that so generously share your ideas here.
This was pretty easy so if you have an old chair or maybe a frame of a chair give it a go! I had two identical chairs but only one had a seat that was kaput.
Good Chair Kaput Chair
Well when I undid the cane seating all that was left was a frame of seat with a big ol' hole in the middle. So I bought some thick plywood and had my husband cut out a template of the frame (I'm not quite there yet w/ all the power tools).
I then purchased the following; 1- batting, 2- thick foam for the extra cushioning & 3- quality material to cover the wood base.
1- I first used a spray adhesive to center the thick foam on top of the wood board.
2- Then I pulled the batting up & over the bottom of the wood board on the center of one side, stapling once. Then repeat this process on the other sides, continuing to pull the batting firmly and stapling around the base of the seat. Cut away any excess batting.
3- Next center your fabric over the seat. Be sure to center any major design element or line up the stripes as it was in this case. Repeat pulling & stapling to secure the fabric. Cut away any excess fabric.
4- Then turn your chair over and screw the seat in place through the chair's frame. The holes will be there from the previous seat.
Finished Chair The Recycled Chair in a Room
* The striped fabric looks a little wiggly in the picture but it's not in person or should I say in chair!
if you want to use a photo or some copy just email me... more than likely we can work it out
Cynthia ~ That's excellent! I love that you re-used what was still a good chair and the way you fixed it up. I have chairs I've been promising myself to do for about a year now (I have the fabric, just need the paint). I like the way you did the pictures in your post too!
Kathy, Thanks for the compliment and especially for keeping this group alive, I appreciate it! I did my pictures with Picnik, and it's free yeah! I learned of this (new to me) tool from Jeff Turner's blog. Thanks for stopping by!
Great looking chair Cynthia! I love refinishing furniture! This looks especially easy!
Love it! I have recovered chairs with cushion seats but never thought to actually make a cushion seat for a chair that started out with cane. Thanks for the mention! Oh and I love Picnik...it is so easy to use!
Mary, Thanks for stopping by and for the compliment, I'm trying my part to be green!
Hi Sharon, you are definitely one of my inspirational stagers. I think the room you did for your daughter turned so good! I have that series bookmarked! Thanks for stopping by.
Awesome Cynthia. I have some of my own the have cane seats and backs that are warn and I have been considering doing something similar. They are very old, but very expensive -- the fram is all Rod iron. Hmmm . . . I should send you a picture!
great post . . . featured http://activerain.com/groups/RealWorldHomeStaging?sort_style=2
Karen - I swear, this was pretty easy to do.....the iron frames sound beautiful! Sure go ahead and send the pic. Thanks for the gold star feature!
Kathy P. - Thanks you for the gold star feature also!
To everyone else, I forgot to mention the materials for the foam, batting and fabric cost under $10 and I even chose heavy upholstering fabric!
Another use for recycling old chairs seems to also be in the landscape; I have seen flower pots placed into the hole in the seat, plant some colorful flowers and set it out in the garden to add interest.
Cynthia: Oustanding! I redid some dining chairs not long ago and I just love them. It was much easier than I thought when I first started. I love the way you demonstrate this with great description and pictures.
Cynthia~
Now that not only looks "do-able" it looks like FUN...and I love the idea of sustainable in my home...and garden (of course)
Hi Mary - Yep, I've seen that too...it's kinda neat in the right setting. Thanks for stopping by, shouldn't you be golfing today?
Hey there Donna my northern GA neighbor - Thanks for the compliment! So glad you were able to recycle and get new chairs in the process. It's a win-win situation.
Hi janeAnne - This project is very "do-able", and yes it was fun. I love your green group & I'm learning something new every time I visit!
Hi Cynthia, You did a fantastic job.. The chair looks great in the room.. Keep it up. God bless,
You think it would be more difficult than that!? Easy step by step instructions and it doesn't seem so overwhelming. Thank you!
Cheryl- So glad you liked the chair project, now if I could only sew like you!
Casey - No it wasn't difficult at all, trust me. I hope you enjoy that Spokane Symphony concert this weekend. Thank you for stopping by!
Cynthia ~ That looks great! I just love taken something old and making it new again. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing Cynthia -- I've never used spray adhesive and think that may be something I need to give a try -- the bedroom looks wonderful! I love re-purposing or restoring items!
The chair looks fabulous!! Your room and the staging looks marvelous too!! Great job Cynthia! You are very creative and have inspired me.
Barbara - So glad you liked it. I like taking older things (me) and making them new again also......this is what I call shopping for myself! At least I feel newer when I'm wearing or using them! ;-)
Margaret - I've also used the spray adhesive for adding a tiny bit of 'diamond dust' to a floral petal here and there to give it a bit of sparkle at Christmas time. Thanks for the kind comments!
Cathy - Thank you so much for your compliments. It was a very cost effective solution to my kaput chair! And thanks for the info on the Bella & Birch product.
Cynthia, the chairs look great. Removing old caning and rattan and replacing with fabric hadn't entered my thought process. This new stripe makes the chairs a lot less county and a lot more stylish. I do dining room chairs all of the time because it's just an easy, quick fix. I will, on occassion, even do it for clients because upholsterers change so much for this simple task.
And thanks for the link, it's much appreciated. I think that a large part of my creativity comes from mom limiting us on the TV hours when I was young.
That is amazing. Sometimes things are easier than they first seem. I think I could even do something like that. thanks for the inspiration.
Love the chair...great job. Now I'm inspired too. Where's that chair anyway...
Hey Ginger - Yes this was easy and thanks for sharing all your creative ideas w/ us here, I appreciate it! I hope you are off to your holiday soon!
Hi Joan - Glad I could be an inspiration....go ahead & grab that chair! I was just visiting your blog....you certainly have many wonderful places near you like your Black Forest Café & Bakery and the Lull Farm, they sound wonderful. Thanks for stopping by!
Terrylynn - Thanks for lovin' my chair, it's easy I swear! Now you too go find your chair and give a go!
It is amazing how far a little work will take a piece of furniture!
Nice choice of fabric - the new chair looks great.
Kristina - I agree! This was a pretty easy project. The hardest part was finding the fabric I wanted.
Georgina - Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm still amazed at you.....living off the grid, WOW!
Cynthia, You do beautiful things with your ideas. I love all the photos on your profile page. Thanks for always sharing such good stuff.
Margaret - Thank you so much for your lovely comments! Sharing & learning is what it's all about here on AR.
Cynthia,
I don't know how I missed this, but thanks! Your instructions are right on.
Susan, Thanks so much for stopping by. There is so much information here on AR it's hard to keep up with all the ideas!
I love it, Cynthia. I wish I could do those sorts of things, but I can only conceptualize them. I can build a fireplace or put in skylights, but I can't cover a chair. Go figure.
Hi there Elizabeth....well I'm in awe of you because I couldn't put in a skylight to save my life. I once designed a fireplace in my previous home that my husband built. Oh yeah..... I got to supervise that job too ;-)
Thanks so much for stopping by!
very nice. thanks for sharing
Hi Chrissie, Thanks so much for stopping by & for the positive feedback, I appreciate it!
Hi Cynthia,
Nice name, LOL!
Now I have a couple of chairs that need help so I'm bookmarking this and maybe I'll try my hand at giving them a new life. Thanks.
Hey there Cynthia my NC neighbor, I like your name too! Give it a go with your chairs, recycle, renew then spend the money you saved on new shoes!
Thanks for stopping by!
Dear Cynthia,
This is a fun and relatively quick project. I have done it a few times with chairs I pick up at garage and estate sales. Cool funky chairs can be a good start to staging an empty home. Thanks for the reminder!
Betina Foreman, Realtor Austin Texas
I love it, it looks wonderful and wonderfully easy. Thanks for posting.
Cynthia,
Now how do you know that I am a shoe hound? LOL!
Cynthia - if you are a shoe hound - check out this creative use of moulding/picture shelf (a bit off topic but what the hey):
Thanks for the inspiration, Cynthia. A chair with such classic good looks, deserves a new life! You did it proud.
Wendy Casey - Surrey, BC
Hi Cynthia: I especially enjoyed the way you defended the "after" photo by saying the design is not squiggly in real life. That shows you take great pride in your work! :)
Betina, Please come back and post a picture of your chair, I'd love to see it!
Cynthia, Hummm... let's see, I'm guessing since you have the hormone estrogen running through your veins congratulations you qualify!!! But really, shoes always fit. It doesn't matter if one could be having a 'puffy' day, dang those shoes always fit!
Kimberly, It was easy! Thank you for your comment.
Liz, That has to be the most original shoe rack I've ever seen. Nice silver ankle straps too. Thanks for the picture!
Wendy, Thanks for stopping by, as you have read I got my inspiration from others here on AR too!
Elizabeth, Nice to hear from you again. You got me down pat, if your gonna do something, do it right! And to answer you in your previous blog, I agree wholeheartedly, mudding is an art form!!!
Great post. I'm going to share this with my neighbor because we were just discussing what to do with old ladder back chairs that don't have seats on them anymore. This was exactly what I told her to do. Thanks!
Love that shoe rack...what a cool idea!!!! =) I'm going to show my handy-husband that one!
Hi there Abby! Thank you so much for the positive comment! I hope your neighbor takes on this project because it is so easy to complete.
That shoe was pretty original, huh?