Back in October I shared the picture of a chair that we found on the curb during Bulk Waste Day. You can read the full story here and see the original picture. Since then, the chair has been sitting outside in front of our garage, exposed to the elements. I knew that if I wanted to save it, I had to do it now. It wouldn't make it through the winter. So I pulled it into the front hall where I looked at it for two days. On Friday, I decided to do something about it.
It is a solid wood chair frame with a removable seat cushion that was screwed on. The cushion was in bad shape, so I pulled that off. I had some paint leftover from my daughter's bedroom (all of the white paint in our home is the same color, Olympic's "Delicate White"), so after washing the chair, I put two coats of paint on it.
There was a foam cushion on the bottom and then some other type of batting.
I decided to keep the foam cushion because I didn't want to spend the money for a new one. But I bought some new cotton batting.
I turned the cushion over and then laid the new batting on top. I traced the outline of the chair and cut the batting. I wasn't sure if I should wrap the batting around the edges. I thought I should, but my husband thought it might be to thick to staple through. After the fact, we decided that I probably should have wrapped it around the front edge of the chair.
I had previously washed and ironed the cotton fabric. Since I was trying to do this on the cheap, I did not buy upholstery fabric. My husband and I both like this pattern and it looks great with the yellow walls in our eating area. I made sure it was smooth and laid it on top of the batting, leaving about 4 inches extra on each side. Starting at one corner, I wrapped it like I was wrapping a present and made my husband put in the first staple. We used a regular staple gun that we use for construction projects.
I worked my way around the edge, pulling the fabric taut as I went and making sure there were no wrinkles on the front.
Then my husband used his screwdriver to fasten the seat back onto the frame. My daughter did not like the sound of the stapler, but enjoyed watching the drill.
And that was it! I am super excited about my "new" chair. It is sturdy, cheerful, and I love the unique design of the frame. All of the chairs in our kitchen are different styles, but painted the same color. This makes a great addition to the collection. One new skill that I can add to my stay-at-home mom's resume! Best of all, I saved a perfectly good chair from being crushed in the back of a garbage truck. The batting cost $10 and the fabric was $3, so for $13 I have a brand new chair. Eco-friendly and thrifty!
