Chair Part 2

Before I start the post I just want to say that I had wanted to do this post a few days ago. However, I just could not get it done, I was too sad. My little one and I watched the Boston Marathon on a live stream on the computer and were following my friend who was running, online. I was so happy, explaining to my son how I ran it a LONG time ago, and how we always went to watch it when I was a child/young adult/adult and how amazing it is to watch the elites come through, and they look as if running on fluffy clouds. Then how equally amazing it is to see everyone else come by and see how hard they are working, and usually they have smiles on their faces. How amazing it is that every spot along the entire route has people cheering for the runners. Anyways, that all changed with the bombings. I have cried a lot thinking about what happened and all who were injured. My heart breaks for the families of the 3 dead. My heart aches for all the injured people and their families and friends. However, my heart lightens when I think about all the rescue, police, volunteers, runners, spectators who pulled together in an instant and helped others who were in critical need. It lightens when I think about my friend, an ER nurse, who was working in the city Monday and all her co-workers who came together as a team to help all the victims they received from EMS. I pray for anyone and everyone affected by this terrible event.


When we left off I had fixed the chair's issues and removed all the fabric from the seat. Of course that was well over one two three weeks ago...... My problem was finding the right material. I went to several stores more than once each. The first material I found I love, but I got it home and did not like it at all (of course I mistakenly did NOT take the chair with me when I bought that). Luckily it looks great with the material I did use and I plan to make a little bolster pillow with it. I like the material that I finally found, but not sure if I love it on the chair or not. Time will tell and I can always replace it in the future using it for another project. My other difficulty is that I don't know where I am going to use the chair yet, so I want to have a neutral fabric so that I can be flexible on my placement of my new chair.

Here is the chair primed with grey spray primer (I did a light sand of the entire chair first). This photo shows only 1 coat, I did 2 coats to cover the red.



To get the specifics up to this point see Chair Part 1

For the finish I was hoping for an aged look, with greys and browns with a hint of gold. Kind of Frenchy maybe? Not really like anything in my home now, but I am hoping to lighten some of the furniture up in the near future.

Here is how I painted the chair:

After the primer went on, I dry brushed a lighter grey color. It was a BM color and probably Cumulus Cloud (the wall color in my boys' room). Next I dry brushed brown paint over it. I want to emphasize DRY brushed, because it is easy to get too much on. I really did not use much paint at all. Last, I took it outside and sprayed a gold spray paint around it to just hit it with a tint of gold. I love how that turned out. It is a little more blue grey than I would like and I think that is due to the grey tinted primer. I will probably not use that next time. But I do like the overall effect. Different than most my current furniture, but I still like it!




Here is how I recovered the seat, replacing the foam:

I started out with the foam. I used the old foam as a template, as well as the wooden seat. The old foam was about 2" thick, but in bad shape. My choices for replacement were 2" and 4". I chose the 4" thick foam, remembering that the chair when I found it was not very comfortable. After using a sharpie marker to mark my foam I used a large serrated bread knife to cut it. I have read that it is easiest with an electric carving knife, but I don't have one. Using the knife I did was so easy, just like cutting with a hand saw. I was relieved at how easy it was.



Then I put the batting on the floor and put the foam and seat on top of that, lining them up.





Next I knelt on it and pulled the batting evenly up over the wood and stapled. I find that kneeling on it gives the foam just enough squish (does that make sense?!?) that the finished product comes out nice and formed looking with material taut.



Next I covered the foam and batting with the new material the same way as outlined for with the batting. It is just more difficult due to the thickness of the fabric and I had a few staples that did not actually catch the wood and I had to redo with more pressure. I used staples freely so that I will not have to redo it anytime soon! I did not take pics of this process....

Here is my finished chair! It is surprisingly comfortable. Everyone in our house, large adults and small children all agree and love it too.






Just ignore that clothes pin holder hanging on the line in one photo. I can't believe I did not catch that! I line dry when I can and had been doing laundry earlier and did not move it....oh well....
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Chair Part 1

I found a chair on the side of the road. Of course I could not leave it there but had to rescue it! It has been in storage for at least 6 months. I recently brought it to my garage, along with all the other projects I have going on, to completely redo it.

It had some of the veneer peeled off, one arm was off but the caning was (almost**) perfect.



I first took the pad off and sat down with some needle nosed pliers and a flat head screwdriver. After taking out a bunch of staples I realized that there was another fabric underneath. Then I realized there was a total of THREE fabrics on this chair. All stapled in........ The staples holding the underneath fabric were rusted....



After taking all 3 fabrics off - which I saved to use as a pattern - I realized that the foam was not in good shape. I guessed this since the chair was not very comfy when I tested it. I kept it to give me a guide for buying a new piece of foam.



I also had to fix one arm. That involved a new screw and some wood glue. I forgot to take any pictures of the arm before. Bad blogger, as this was done after starting this blog. oops...

The little piece of wood that was a rest for the back of the seat was loose and I could not tighten it any. So, I removed it, grabbed a scrap piece of wood and made a new support.



I used wood filler in the cracks and then sanded with 600 grit when dry. Next up is to prime with spray paint and then paint. I think I am going with a grey. But I want a brownish and goldish old look to it. Not sure yet how I will accomplish that. I usually just experiment. If I hate it I can always paint over it.

Then the foam and batting and then the fabric. I have not found the fabric yet.

Here is a peek with one coat of primer.......



Hopefully I will be showing the finished chair within a week. Writing it out might just get my butt in gear and get me motivated!!!!

Have fun with your furniture restoration projects!

Linking up to:
Miss Mustard Seed