I recently discovered the wonders of our local Habitat for Humanity Restore, and it makes my heart beat wildly. Used doors and vases and chairs, oh my! And for killer prices, none the less
I picked up some ugly, old office chairs for $5 a piece a couple of months ago with the intention of restaining the wood and recovering the cushions, but then they just sat here in my studio and stared at me. It took only two months of looking at that dusty rose and oak ensemble before I got brave enough to attempt the intended makeover.
Now keep in mind, I’m the girl who is terrified of chemical stripper and can count on one hand the amount of times she’s used a sewing machine. Each and every time having to Google, “how to thread a bobbin”.
I realized, partway through stripping and sanding, that I’m a lazy DIY’er and seriously considered spray painting the doggone thing. But I pushed through…and love the results!
So while I don’t have step-by-step instructions on how to pull this off {you’ll find plenty of that on Pinterest…everything from computer chairs to counter stools}…may it act as inspiration that “if she can do it…I surely can!”.
Amen.
* WOODEN FRAME:
I took the simple frame apart and stripped and sanded the oak finish from the wood. I then restained it with a Minwax ‘Espresso’ stain & sealer {which I believe they now call ‘Jacobean’).
Once fully cured, rather than polyurethane or lacquer it (I didn’t want the wood to appear shiny), I simply used Johnson’s paste wax to finish it (like on my dresser redo). I wish I had applied a second coat of stain, but I was a little impatient over-eager to finish up.
While I was truly tempted to break out the spray paint during my hand-numbing sanding extravaganza, I love that you can see the natural wood grain through the stain.
* CHAIR CUSHIONS:
I found this fantastic material on www.fabric.com and used about 2 yards for the chairs (it’s actually outdoor fabric, which is thicker and has almost a water-repellent texture). I used my newly purchased Fiskars rotary cutter…and was convinced on the spot that I would never again use fabric scissors. This thing should come with a theme song and glitter.
The seat cushion was a breeze, it simply needed to be cut to size (make sure you have enough to pull around the underside) and stapled underneath. I folded my edges over to keep it neat and clean (this fabric certainly had a stringy edge) and worked my way around the base starting on one side, with the material centered, and would hop across to the other side to keep the fabric pulled taut and smooth.
The top cushion required a little more thought and work. I measured the fabric to fit, draping it over the top (which removed the need to have stitching across the top) – making sure the print was facing inward, and pinned it along the two sides, leaving it to hang open on the underside.
Carefully lifting the fabric off the cushion, I then used my sewing machine to stitch up the two sides. I turned the fabric the right-side-out (because it was pinned and stitched inside out), and pulled it over my cushion to be sure it fit. I pulled at the corners to estimate what I was dealing with – how much room there was and what was the curvature of the cushion was. Incredibly official, I know.
I then turned it inside out again and rounded the corners with the sewing machine (praying it would fit…I’m still new at this sewing thing, and wasn’t quite sure how to measure and plan for something like that). I repeated the process a couple of times – slipping the cover over the cushion and then tightening up the corner a smidge with stitches. I’m sure there’s a much easier, intelligent, sewing-savvy way to do this…but this was me winging the process, and it turned out surprisingly well!
Once the cover fitted the back cushion nicely, around the top and sides, I simply stapled it into the wood frame underneath, within the cushion – and then reassembled the chair.
Voila…a complete makeover of two boring office chairs!
I had some left-over fabric, so made a simple cover for the cushion that sits on my “client chair” at my desk. Yes, it’s the same chair I just glued a pillow cover for a few weeks ago. Flighty, what?
And here it is, folks…my fabulous new view with pops of my favorite shade of green!
