----> Repainted/Reupholstered Chairs

I finished these a few weeks ago and then got busy throwing paint on random other things, went to St. George with the family, and completely forgot to post them.  This was my first shot at upholstering something and although it's not a perfect job, it didn't turn out as bad as I thought. 

I found these one day at Savers in Orem.  I went in there looking for a mirror and saw them sitting up high on a shelf.  I wasn't quite sure what I'd do with them so I glanced at them and left.  Later that night I found a coffee table on Craigslist that I wanted so I had to go back to Orem and found myself at Savers again. 

Did I mention I have a thrift store problem?

Anyway, somehow these two chairs and a coffee table can fit into a Honda minivan.

That's pretty impressive.

They definitely had potential.  From the looks of it, someone reupholstered them before - because there were two layers of ugly and stains when I started taking the red floral material off.

I left the bottom layer of fabric on so I wouldn't have to deal with the actual cushion and it acted as sort of a guide for stapling the new fabric on.  Speaking of fabric...IKEA has the cutest fabric on the planet.  The one I chose for the chairs is called Patricia and I only needed one yard to do both cushions.

I had to enlist the troops to help with the sanding.  They're allowed to help with the "fun" part.

 One down, one to go.

I did most of it with my electric sander.  Although the sanding blocks kept the boys busy for quite awhile!

Time for primer

Sorry, honey, but the rain and freezing temperatures aren't conducive to paint drying in the garage so I have to do it in the house.  *wink*

I think I subconsciously left out any pictures of the painting process.  It was a nightmare and took for.e.ver.  Instead of using spray paint I used a quart of black and a brush.  HOLY TEDIOUS AND ANNOYING.  I don't recommend NOT using spray paint if you 1) don't have a paint sprayer or 2) it can't be rolled on with a roller (ie- obnoxious chair parts).

I had bad brush strokes but I think it's because I was impatient and didn't allow the paint to dry before I tried to cover the strokes up with another coat.  At least I'm a fast learner so painting the second one wasn't as bad- BUT you won't find another set of wood chairs on here until I get my hands on a sprayer.

Now for the reupholstering part:

 I cut my yard of fabric in half and positioned it over the cushion, moving it around, until I figured out where I wanted it. 

Next: I gathered all of my reupholstering necessities in order of importance. 

Diet Coke

staple gun

scissors.

Naturally.

This picture is blurry, but seriously...try pulling as hard as you can on a piece of fabric while taking a picture in manual mode.  It's kind of hard.  So basically you just tug and pull and staple all the way around that sucker.  Corners are a little tricky and mine ended up rippled in some spots but I got over it.

 THEN, I turned it over and trimmed off the excess material so it's not all bulky underneath.

 Lastly: I turned it over and squealed at how awesome I was for having just done that. {simple pleasures} Aside from jamming the staple gun every time I added more staples and taking a good 15 minutes to get it to work again; this part probably only takes about a half hour.

I squealed even louder when I put them all together.

My mom is so proud right now.


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