Kitchen Chair Makeover
When we moved into our house, I knew a kitchen table would be one of the first things we needed (since our last table my mom got out of the garbage and only had 3 chairs - that very likely had something(s) living inside the cushions).
I found our table from this cute store in Downtown Apex called Two Old Birds. Check them out if you're looking for chalk paint supplies or inspiration! They sell Annie Sloan chalk paint which is my FAV (but also a little on the pricey side, so I don't use for every project).
The table was painted in Old White & Coco. and I loved the color contrast! It made a seemingly plain table come to life!
I looked and looked for chairs I liked, and finally found these beauties at the flea market. So I scooped them up with the vision of recovering them and painting them to match the table.
Next, I took the cushions off and pulled off the heinous maroon fake leather seat covering (just by using a screwdriver to pry open the staples underneath).
And what did I find when I pulled off that nasty seat covering you ask? I have no idea, but it was even nastier... A rat's nest? old rotting tobacco plants? or I don't even want to know...
Either way, there was no salvaging anything about the seat cover, that's for sure! So in order to reupholster the chairs, I used the following
- Cute Fabric (I looked high and low for the perfect fabric and ended up buying curtains at Target and using them to recover the chairs)
*Helpful Hint: Check curtains and tablecloths when you're recovering chairs - they're typically cheaper than buying expensive upholstery fabric, and it's easier to coordinate with the rest of your decor!
First, I cut the foam sheeting to fit the wooden bottom. Then I cut the batting to be roughly 1.5" wider than the wooden bottom and cut squares out at each corner (to prevent the bulk when I stapled the corners later. Lastly, I cut my fabric to be roughly the same size as the batting (slightly larger, if possible).
Then I laid it out on the ground 1) Fabric 2) Batting) 3) Foam 4) Wood. I started an inch or so from one corner and stapled the fabric and batting down about every inch - leaving more space at the corners to finish later.
Once I had one side done, I moved to the opposite side and pulled as tight as I could (it helped to press it against the floor to give even more pressure (this makes the nice sloped edges of the chair, rather than it looking like your sitting on a box). Once I was comfortable with the pressure and shape of the cushion, I once again stapled an inch or so apart down that whole side. Repeat for the two other sides!
Then when you're done stapling all the edges, you do the corners. Everyone does the corners differently, but I just pulled the fabric in diagonally, stapled, and then took each of the two side flaps and stapled them down after.
Once I recovered the cushions, I moved onto painting the chair. I used the same Annie Sloan Old White for the majority of the chair & Coco for the details in the back and the spindles of the chair. I used sand paper to rough up the edges - I love how you can see all the detail even more when you distress them! Finally, I used Annie Sloan Clear Wax to seal it! (I will do another blog post detailing my chalk paint process more in depth soon!)
Below is the final product! You can see the awesome detail in the wooden and the nice sloped edges of the cushion, Let's just say the first chair I reupholstered didn't look like this :)
Ah! I love a good before and after!
