Labor of Love - Recovering an Antique Chair Tutorial

 I've been enjoying filling up the end of the year

calendar with events (did I just say ENJOYING?)...

scratch that...

I want this year to be done...as in O V E R!

I want lazy summer days with my kids, to be able to stay up late

with friends and family and just be.

Four more weeks til I can have my way!

Since my last post, I picked up a few things at estate sales,

turned them into projects,

and thought I'd share how they went.

I am no an expert on reupholstering...(clearly)

I can count on two hands how many I have done.

But, in case you are wondering how easy it is...

here you go!

I bought four antique dining chairs from a guy who

no longer wanted them.

Lucky me!

I later found out that they are Eastlake, which

is old...like the seats are stuffed with horsehair old!

The original crushed velvet fabric was easily removed

to unveil this beautiful sight..uh...what?

This was my first experience finding horsehair under

the burlap and fabric.

These guys are really old!

After removing the nails (about 20 per side) with my

needle-nosed pliers, I took the chair outside and gave it a

dozen or so good heavy hits to remove all of the dirt and dust.

This took some effort as there were many years of heck knows

what to beat out of them.

I took the shop vac to it as well, and then covered

it with a fresh layer of burlap. (You could also remove the

horse hair altogether and refill it with foam, but that

seemed a bit over zealous for me...call me lazy).

I just happened to have white burlap leftover from a wreath

I made awhile ago, so I used that.  I secured the burlap to the wood

 with small upholstery nails. Just make sure the fabric you

 use as a buffer between the horsehair and final fabric,

 is thick enough to keep the horsehair from poking through.

Ouch!

I then draped a piece of fabric over the burlap and "lined it up"

to make sure the pattern was on straight.

Next, I took my time cutting away the excess fabric, making

sure not to cut it too short. You want it to line up

with the wood of the seat. It doesn't have to be exact because

you will cover it with trim...no need for perfectionism here!

A close up will show you that I am horrible at cutting a straight edge,

and thankfully that's forgivable with this project.

I have used large decorative nail heads in the past and

used a double fold to finish the job, but this time around I chose to use

a trim. Before putting the trim on, I secured the fabric with the

remaining nails.

I purchased both my fabric and trim from Pacific Fabrics in Everett.

They are so kind and helped me figure out how much I would need

for my four dining chairs.

I wanted to do two in the fabric above (to go with a dresser I have in at

Faded now), and the other two in another different pattern of fabric

 to go with a dresser I just finished today. (Pics to follow.)

I got out my trusty glue gun and glued the trim...

super easy.

And here's how it turned out...

Here's a before of the dresser I picked up on Friday...

And, after much contemplation over color...

And, the other two chairs look like this...

They are truly a labor of love!

Speaking of that...my very first labor of love was...

this

girl

right

here!

She turns 17 in one week!

She is kind.

She is smart.

She is beautiful.

I am so blessed to be her mom!

Happy Birthday Chanelle!

Love you to pieces :)

Have a terrific week!

Cheree

 



Garage Sale Season!

I am frequently asked where I find my furniture and 

treasures that I bring into Faded Elegance.

Truth is, I find things anywhere and everywhere!

More common than not, I have friends and family who are looking

to get rid of old stuff and I'm eager to take whatever it is off their hands.

This weekend, however, was the unofficial kick-off to

GARAGE SALE SEASON!

My good friend, Bonnie, and I grabbed our Starbucks and were

out shopping by 8:00 AM!

The weather could not have been better and we wrapped up our

excursion in time for me to make first pitch at

my son's baseball game.

Here's a little glimpse of how it all came together...

Bonnie spied these amazing French vintage silver rimmed,

etched drinking glasses. This set came with 79 pieces

and was in perfect condition!!!

You rock Bonnie!

This Bassett dresser was from a friend of my husband's.

It's a solid piece and I chose Maison Blanche's

La Craie - "Hurricane" and "Silver Mink" to update it.

I already had the little nightstand shown here in the lower right 

corner of the pic, so I decided to paint it to match the dresser.

Both would make a nice addition to any bedroom.

I broke up the 79-piece set into sets of 4's and 6's,

so that they are more affordable and more realistic

for customers. They look so beautiful next to my

vintage crystal decanter I scored this weekend.

This French looking footstool was originally acquired in Venezuela

and is in perfect condition.

I brought this little hutch in last week, but didn't have time 

to post about it here. I chose Miss Mustard Seed's

Mustard Yellow Milk Paint and it is a STUNNER!

Hope this weather lasts cuz it makes garage sale hunts

so much more enjoyable!

Happy hunting!

Cheree

P.S. Thank you Bonnie! Hope we can do it again soon!