Here is a photo of the "before" chair. I bought this chair at the goodwill in Longview my junior or senior year of high school for $10. I brought it home, and my dad realized right away what a nice chair it was, and offered to pay me $20 for it. He said "You can buy 2 more." I told him "No, there was only one at the goodwill!" He was sad I rejected his offer, but finder's keepers, DAD! Below is a photo of me sitting in the beloved chair the summer after freshman year of college. (and yes, that is an OTC sticker on my mirror).
After 11-ish years of abuse from living with me and my 2 cats who use it as a scratching post, it was time to either chuck it or do something with it. Little did I know that I was about to endeavor on THE HARDEST PROJECT I HAVE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE. There were so many challenges lined up against me, like the fact that it was extremely tedious work, and I have a disease
where I cannot bring myself to FINISH anything!!! (I am the type of girl who will do all the dishes, except one spoon or fork and walk away). Furthermore, this chair caused me literally, blood, sweat, and tears. I have the blisters, scars, and the vaccine records to prove it (tetanus shot). The only thing that kept me going was Love. Love prevailed. What was I going to do? quit and throw away my favorite chair? No.
Ripping the seat off the chair frame was (in hindsight) the easiest part of the chair. Same with ripping the upholstery off the chair seat. The hardest part were the millions of staples. Getting the staples out of the godforsaken chair.
Look how well made it was! This was probably built in the 50's.
Do you see how many staples are in that tiny corner of the chair? WHY IS THAT EVEN NECESSARY?! Ripping the fabric off of the top part of the chair caused many blisters and cuts, to me and the wood of the chair. When I pulled that corner back, my heart sank. REALLY? MORE STAPLES? I sent a pic-text of it to my husband and asked "Did your dad build this chair?" (His father's nickname is "Over-kill Bill.")
Once all the fabric and most of the staples were removed (there were a few I could not get out), then came the sanding, wood-putty, sanding, and spray paint (none of which I bothered to photograph). This part was time consuming but easy and fun. Especially the spray-paint part! ;)
The easiest part was actually getting the fabric on the chair, and fitting the foam cushion for the back and stuffing the sides with batting. I purchased a staple gun especially for this project and my advice to you women who are considering doing this project: first: DON'T. But if you're stupid enough to try it, I would suggest paying the extra bucks and getting the easiest to use staple gun. Unless you have a Kung-Fu grip. Even with the easiest-to-squeeze staple gun, I have a blister on my right thumb. I think the staple gun I got was $26 and for a few more bucks you could've gotten the electric one, but I figured this was more "green" and there are (I think) a lot more benefits to having a simple staple gun.
Also: I should note that I nearly destroyed the washing machine by washing the foam backing (which promptly disintegrated) and clogged the sink next to the washing machine due to the ingenious idea. :)
last night. I waited to do the
seat, just to make sure the cushion
that I washed was completely dry.
Voila!
The finished product. I scotch-guarded the sh*t
out of the fabric.
Long story short: I'm pleased with the final product but my advice to you is don't do it, just get a new chair.
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