Restoring Beauty: Chair Transformation-Revealed!

When I first saw this chair, I really saw the potential.  Although it was stuck in the corner, with odd red fabric, mis-matched styles of wood carving, and scuffs all over the chair, there was something that spoke to me about this chair  (maybe the $6 price tag spoke louder than the other, more traditional chairs I saw).

With so many inspirational choices, I originally went with this Baker chair as inspiration for my thrift store find.

 Thomas Pheasant for Baker

But after painting the chair black, it looked too stark...

So I changed my mind and combined the gold touches for the back of the chair with the white chairs from Belle Maison below:

Belle Maison chairs

Here’s how I transformed this chair...

I removed the chair pad.

I sanded the chair.

Painted the chair with a primer paint.

I used the Zinsser Primer Paint I had left
over from a previous project...that $10 can
goes a long way!!!

Filled the wood with Lepage wood filler. (yes, I should have done this before the sanding, but last minute decided to fill in the decorative “carving” on the front of the seat, as it seemed too “country” for what I was going to do.) So I re-sanded and primed again.

Painted the chair white, and the “8” of the chair back the “Champagne Nouveau” colour I used for the mail sorter (I thought, if it didn’t work, I can always re-paint over it in white).

Using this fabric I found during the Value Village 50% sale (it cost a whopping $3 for 2 yards---I only used one!), I replaced the chair pad,  and stapled the fabric.

Here’s the after.

Here's the cost breakdown for this chair if you did this yourself:
Chair: $6
Primer: Used left over can, but would cost about $12 for the can
Wood filler:  $6  
Black spray paint: Used left over from my table project, but would cost $5 per can.  
Gold spray paint:  Used left over from mail sorter project, but would cost $5 per can.
Chair pad filler:  
Fabric:  $3.


Total:  approx. $45


Simply a great find!


{This post is featured on The Motherboards and linked to My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia , Coastal Charm and House of Hepworths}