A chair, before and after | How About Orange

October 28, 2011

A chair, before and after

Say hello to my new chair. This guy has been sitting in the corner, all done except for those armrests, for several weeks. That's because someone got scissors-happy when cutting out the seat cushions and forgot to leave enough fabric for the arms. And someone's husband graciously stopped at IKEA last night and purchased the required quarter yard of SaraLisa. What a guy.

Above is the original chair I bought at Jubilee Furniture. I have a thing for chrome these days. Ooo, shiny! But sad fabric. This chair sort of reminds me of a walker, but I'm okay with that. When I'm 80, I'll have coordinating furniture.

This chair was way easier than the Steelcase business. Essentially two pillowcases for the seat and the back were stapled shut at the bottom.

I added more batting to plump it up a little and cover the disintegrating foam, then used the old covers as a template for cutting the new fabric. I sewed up the new pillowcases, stuffed the chair pieces into them, and stapled them shut again. Of course that covered up the old screw holes in the wood frame, so I had to poke all along the sides of the chair with a needle* to find them again. Then I cut little slits in the fabric with an Xacto knife and screwed the seat and back to the frame.

The arms were the easiest—I detached the old pieces, sprayed some adhesive* to the new fabric, and wrapped it around the old armrests. Snapped them back on, replaced the screws, and we're in business.

*I don't know anything about professional upholstery, so you should probably assume my methods are totally weird. But I like this chair.

44 comments:

Grandma G said...

Weird methods or not (I don't know, either), you sure ended up with a great-looking chair! Way to go!!

Mum

Anonymous said...

i love how it looks! congrats =)
you sure cracked me up with the "coordinating furniture" comment jajaja. GREAT JOB!

Mary@BarnBugStudio said...

I love what you did with that sad little chair! Haven't been to Ikea in a while as we don't have one that's close, but I have to get my hands on a bit of that fabric. Well done, you!

Craftcherry said...

Love that chair!! Looks really great. I've always loved that fabric too.

Katie said...

I think the chair looks delightful!!

Swati said...

I like this chair too. Even if there is no orange in it :)

Jennwith4 said...

Very nice! I've been wanting to attemPt a chair recover. Yours turned out great. :)

Jessica Jones said...

Swati, I know. Such a let down. At least it's near some orange...

Unknown said...

I love it! I have a chair you have inspired me to give a new face to.

Melissa I. said...

turned out great!

Jessica said...

love the chair, and also, your mum up there is pretty awesome. Thanks for your opinion on my bias tape dilemma :)

Kate the Great said...

Love the way you recycled that chair! Awesome pattern and how green of you!

Hills N Valleys said...

It looks great!!

A Mother and A Daughter said...

I love the look of chrome also! The walker comment made me laugh! ~ Barbara @ http://amotherandadaughter.blogspot.com/

tinajo said...

Wow, talk about transformation! :-)

Tahlia said...

WOW Love it ! I have a half re-furbished chair sitting in the corner of my lounge that i've bn waiting to find the right fabric for, too many choices!!

i am pam said...

Loving the chair & the fun funky IKEA fabric.

Penny Pickles said...

LOVE the fabric and the chair - it turned out great. I'm sure there are professional methods to follow when reupholstering, but what fun is that? Your funky walker chair is great!

Lara said...

I got the exact style chair for $5 at Goodwill this summer. It's in an orange wool and in pretty good shape but the arm rests are black plastic which really irks me. I'm thinking unscrew them and cover with some foam and fabric.

Totally bookmarking this for the future! Your chair looks awesome!

** said...

I saw one your fabrics, sewed as a rain drop cushion, on a french on line shop, and I was as proud as if it was mine !
http://byvirginiezshop.bigcartel.com/
Best regards form Burgundy (France)

JAMIE SAYS DREAM said...

Looks great, well done! And you are funny too - "This chair sort of reminds me of a walker, but I'm okay with that. When I'm 80, I'll have coordinating furniture" - ha ha!

Jessica Jones said...

**, wow--this stuff has even made it to France. Fun!

Bek said...

Wow! What a transformation! I really like it :)

My word verification is Bunnest - this chair is the "bunnest": the funnest for your buns. ;)

Rose Clearfield said...

The chair is adorable! The new fabric totally transformed it.

Anonymous said...

What a great chair and husband! ... he stopped to get you more fabric, what a great guy.

Heidi said...

I love that fabric. I'm curious to know how well IKEA fabric holds up . . .

bunnest!

Michelle said...

Wow, I've stayed away from these at thrift stores because I can't reupholster...I might attemp this but a question for you...HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY RESTAPLE IT? IS THERE A SPECIAL STAPLER OR TOOL? Thanks for sharing your project...

Jessica Jones said...

I used a staple gun I got at Home Depot. With regular staples, nothing special for upholstery. I used some 1/4" deep staples, and some 9/16" depending on where they had to go.

RhondaBuss said...

I love the chair. The fabric you chose is just perfect.

Jess said...

Oh my goodness, that chair rocks! When I was a kid my grandma had a beauty shop with chairs just like that, I love what you did with it!

Anonymous said...

I love Jubilee! And your "new" chair!

Missing_Pieces said...

Professional or not...the fabric is gorgeous and it turned out beautifully. Congrats! :)

http://secondhandclass.blogspot.com/

Anthony Spence said...

lovely chair..

Anonymous said...

i love it, it's beautiful ! :)

Bubble My Licorice said...

this is a great idea and the result is amazing!

Anonymous said...

OK you got a great hands – I love the chair. I probably would not bother to fix anold chair like you but this one looks great!!!
חבילות נופש לחול

Allyson McGuire said...

Adorable! I love the simplicity and versatility of it. Great job. Thanks for sharing!

Allyson
http://cupcakescandycanes.blogspot.com

Isabela Oliveira said...

A great transformation, it was much better, congratulations ....

Unknown said...

Looks great! Nice job!

Johanna said...

This is so inspiring! I am in need of a great side-chair so now I am amped to go thrifting.

Karyna @ PaperSquid said...

This looks amazing. Unusual methods or not, it looks really crisp and just awesome. Oh, how I wish I could sew better.

At Home with Kim Vallee said...

You can be proud. I love the new look. I am also thinking of buying IKEA fabric to prolong the life of a comfy upholster chair I have in my living room. Seeing yours encourages me to do it.

Jessica Jones said...

Do it, Kim! Do it!

neslinin atölyesi said...

looks great!!