Teach Me Tuesday: Recovering a Thrift Store Chair

Welcome to Teach Me Tuesday! I spend a lot of time each week reading all of the great DIY tips out there in Blogland. Because there are so many fabulous projects that I can’t wait to try, I figured that it would be fun to feature some of my very favorites here each Tuesday.

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming edition of Teach Me Tuesday, please email me at LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com and we’ll chat!

If you haven’t visited Kate at Centsational Girl, well, let me just say that you are really missing out. I don’t know how I’ve missed her blog until about a month ago, but all it took was a post or two for her to have me hooked. This gal is now one of my very favorite home decor/DIY bloggers. If you don’t believe me, check out this and this and this. Yeah, now you understand, right?

I have been searching the thrift stores around town for a plain wooden chair to pair with “the desk,” and haven’t had any luck. When I saw Kate’s chair that had it’s own rags to riches transformation, I decided that I’d rather find a chair like hers that I could recover! You won’t believe how easy Kate makes it to achieve great results.

Kate writes:

This dusty old chair was sitting at the local thrift store with a $3 price tag. I offered $2 cash, and she came home with me. I gave her a makeover, and bibbity bobbity boo, now she’s Belle of the Ball. Or at least, the belle of my office.

Before and After:

If you don’t have a handy magic wand, then gather these supplies:

1. Fabric of choice
2. Nail head trim kit with rubber hammer/mallet
3. Spray paint (I used Rustoleum’s American Accents Heirloom White)
4. Baby wipes
5. Tea light candle
6. Polyurethane (I used Minwax Wipe-On Poly) and latex gloves
7. Foam (if necessary to add cushion or reinforce seat)
8. Bamboo batting (see photo below)
9. Medium grade sandpaper
10. Hot glue gun
11. Stapler and Staple gun

Day One, Antique French Paint Technique:

(also used in last week’s ‘Bleak to Tres Chic’ Chair Makeover)

Step One: Remove cushion and give chair a light sanding. This removes dust, any leftover finish, and helps adhere the paint to the wood. Wipe down chair with baby wipes to remove dust, let dry 5 minutes.

Step Two: Rub tea light candle over edges of chair, wherever you want the wood to show through the paint. Lightly remove any wax crumbs with baby wipes. Apply spray paint to chair in a well ventilated area. Work one section at a time, because spray paint dries quickly. Use baby wipes to wipe away the paint where you applied the candle wax. This allows the piece to have exposed wood edges and gives it that antiqued look. In my case, I had a nice bow detail on the top, and I wanted the wood detail to show through the white paint. If you’re doing more than one, note that it takes an entire can of spray paint to cover one chair.

Cover the entire chair with your spray paint, and let dry for 24 hours.

Day Two:

Step One: Apply thin coat of Wipe On Poly and let dry 4 to 6 hours. Use latex gloves to protect your hands, or this product will leave a sticky residue on your fingers. The poly protects your paint, and also enhances the wood detail underneath. You can see the exposed wood edges in the photo below. This wipe-on product goes on in less than 2 minutes, and I highly recommend it over a paintbrush application.

Step Two: While your polyurethane dries, recover your seat cushion. (Below, check out these fabric choices from decades past – we’ve come a long way, haven’t we?) Remove the old fabric, and consider reinforcing the old seat with a piece of foam. In my case, the chair only had a board with a small amount of cushioning and it was a bit uncomfortable. I purchased a piece of medium density foam from the local fabric store, and some eco-friendly bamboo batting to cover the foam. Trim your foam and your batting to fit your chair seat. Staple the batting tightly to the seat to secure the new foam.

Step Three: Center your fabric on the newly cushioned seat, and attach with staple gun.

Step Four: If you have a rattan back, you have the option of covering it with fabric. On the back, create a rear cushion by A) forming a cardboard skeleton, B) stapling the bamboo batting to the cardboard, C) hot glue the fabric to the cardboard, and D) thread the new cushion to the rear side of the rattan using a needle and thread, and secure the cushion to the rear with more hot glue to solidify the thread.

This is how the back will look when done correctly:

Step Five: Trim your batting and fabric to just beyond the edges of where you’ll apply your nail head trim to the front of the chair. In my case, I chose a French natural color nailhead trim kit. Fold under your fabric, and work the trim kit around the chair, using the rubber mallet, to secure the batting and the fabric to the chair. Note: You cannot use a regular hammer, since it would destroy the delicate nail head. You must use a rubber head hammer or mallet to pound the nail heads into your chair.

Pliers are the best way to clip the edges of this nail head trim kit.

Step Six: Reattach seat cushion to chair.

Here is the final chair:

Another before and after:

Isn’t she lovely? Now, imagine doing this for an entire dining set… fabulous !

Can you believe that transformation? It seriously makes me want to recover all of the chairs in the my dining room. I also love the tea light candle trick. Just great!

Thank you to Katie for sharing this wonderful tutorial with us. Be sure to visit Katie at Centsational Girl to check out her other sensational projects. You’ll definitely get hooked on her blog!

Tagged as: Decorating, Decorating Inspiration, DIY, Do it Yourselfer, furniture, Home Dec, Home Decor, Teach me Tuesday, thrift store