Hey howdy hey, I’ve got a mini chair round-up today! The chairs themselves aren’t mini. They are normal sized, as far as I can tell. It’s just a mini post. Like only five chairs, instead of fifteen, or whatever. You know.
So let’s get to it. First up is this incredibly crusty slice of dilapidation from Better After reader Diane, who found this old slipper chair in her mother-in-law’s attic. It was on its way to the dump when Diane decided she loved it enough to overlook the fact that parts of it had been eaten completely away by mice. Now that’s love. (Because love is blind. And possibly crazy). She took it to some upholstery pros and it’s looking totally sittable now!
Ok, this next one is not nearly as drastic. No mouse skeletons or hantavirus here. But I nearly fell out of my chair when I read what Ashley at The Three Of Us paid for these fabulous Danish chairs: $2.50 a piece! They only needed a bit of sanding and light coat of touch-up stain. Then she replaced the well-loved (gross) cushions with some super cool peacock fabric, and the results look worth 50 times what she paid for them.
Have you ever changed a little something in your house, like say fixed up a thrift-store chair, which got you excited enough to rearrange the living room, which forced you to find a new place for that bookcase, which caused a major re-organization of your office, which required new curtains for every room in the house? Stephanie had an experience like that with this lovely thrifted chair. See the story on her blog Sandpaper and Glue.
Ha ha, this before chair just makes me laugh! It couldn’t be begging out for a makeover any more if it actually had a mouth. How is it even standing there?! From Better After reader Melissa, who somehow saw potential here and fixed it up into a chair anyone would be proud to call their own.
This one started out like a sad clown: “I’m red! My fabric is kinda fun! I’m dead inside.” Erin aka The Impatient Gardener brought it back to life with nothing more than a fabric update, keeping the weathered patina of the original paint as-is. Check out her blog for an up-close look at the fabric, there’s more than meets the eye! It’s like polka-dots for grown ups. Love it.
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9 Comments
Colleen
November 9, 2012 at 3:39 PMYou make me laugh so hard. “I’m red…I’m dead inside.” Man, oh man. That peacock fabric is from a designer called Dear Stella, I think. It looks just fabulous!!!!
sandpaperandglue
November 9, 2012 at 8:41 PMthanks for posting my chair!!! 🙂 totally made my day when it popped up today.
Nancy
November 9, 2012 at 4:02 PMI love all of these chair redos! I’ll have to send you some of my before & afters from Chairs with Character!
Nancy
Chief Chair Hoarder
a vintage chair rental company in colorado
http://chairswithcharacter.com/
http://facebook.com/chairswithcharacter
Tracy
November 9, 2012 at 5:08 PMNice work on all of them … but that first one makes my heart ache. Can I have it, please?
suzyq
November 9, 2012 at 6:15 PMThey’re all great – but the first one is a dream – and the 4th one’s before shot made me laugh out loud.
Amy Lou
November 9, 2012 at 9:57 PMFunny how chairs can look self-satisfied after they’re fixed up. Like they want to go to a high school reunion and say “Ha fat former jocks! I’m thin and rich and my zits are all gone.”
nikki
November 11, 2012 at 1:08 PMI am totally agog with all the before and afters, what a dream to be able to sew a pretty fine outfit for a well loved chair. My mind is racing with the thought of bringing my homely bunch to the party, great ideas, thanks.
Make It Happen Mama
November 12, 2012 at 6:46 AMAaaw, they look so much happier now 🙂
A little bit of this and a little bit of that – The Impatient Gardener
November 2, 2017 at 6:35 PM[…] over at Better After featured my chair redo today, except she put in a not-quite-after picture before I put the double […]