Monday, March 21, 2011

Before and after $5 goodwill chair


I'm really excited about this before and after! It was a ton of fun to do and for once I left the wood color alone! Really all that was done was reupholstering the double layered teacher's lounge esque fabric with cigarette burns throughout and adding some spray painted moulding (sp??) and wood pegs to cover the screws! In total I spent around $20 dollars (this include the five dollars it took to buy the chair) fixing it up! I have tons of left over moulding and enough fabric to make a pillow or something fun!
BEFORE...
Really in truly this fabric was a faded blue thick scratchy tweed of some sort with brown plaid lines, yeah yuck!

AFTER'S!



The wood has some scratches and dings but idk I thought it added character? What do you think should I sand it down and re stain or what?

Before and After Valet chair

Recently Addy and I went down to my uncle's house to help out after he had surgery. The visit was great and to be honest other then thoroughly cleaning the kitchen, cooking a few meals, and driving him to and from, I really wasn't needed all that much. I did however help him clear out many unwanted items he had planned on putting in a garage sale :-) Have I told you how much I LOVE other people's junk!! Anyway, there was this old odd looking chair that had belonged to my grandfather called a valet chair. Apparently these (according to the internet) are some of the manliest chairs in existence because they were used for businessmen. They would sit and read their newspapers while getting their shoes shined. I decided that in our little family of three females, i.e. me, addy and my little girl dog Cuba, the chair should not necessarily scream manly-ness. I don't know what exactly I was hoping for but the cheap leather and brass look had to go! I successfully located a box with canvas in it (still packing boxes :-(  btw) stained it with tea, stenciled german words on it, sanded the letters to make it look worn and reupholstered the chair seat. I decided to locate some burlap to create a back to the chair, a few buttons the same color of the stitching on the burlap to tie it all together, a few layers of paint on the brass, and voila!  Here are a few before's (you can not tell in the photos but the leather has many cracks from years of wear)

After's




I also am just about to finish another chair I bought for a whopping $5 while I was down visiting my uncle so probably later today I will post more pics! As Addy would say ta-ta!