Feeling Chairful

Is summertime kicking anyone else’s butt?  We’re only like, two weeks in, and my butt is considerably kicked. It’s the heat. It’s like labor pains. You forget how bad it really is, and then you’re totally unprepared to handle it the next time around. Do you know when the temperature gets above 110 degrees, they call it a triple-double?  I think there should be a law that the governor goes door-to-door handing out free ice-cream at that point.

But if you’d like a sugar-free way to get your self out of the summer slumpytimes, why not makeover a chair or two?  They are easy enough to find at any thrift-store and can usually be successfully made-over in a matter of hours, if you aren’t doing any fancy upholstering or anything.  Here’s a few to quench your thirst.  

This chair had belonged to Better After reader Carrie’s grandmother, so of course she didn’t want to part with it, but it just wasn’t going to work in her home as is. Plus it needed a cushion, as comfortable as sitting on the plain cane would have been. (Hint: not very).  So she whipped one up, attached it with nailhead trim, topped it with a summery pillow, and it sits proudly in her home today.

This chair from Beck at Beckwith’s Treasures also has a unique history, her parents found it in a field when she was a baby!  They hauled it home, refinished it, and many years later, it was her turn to do the same. She tore out the old upholstery and gave the original walnut a deeper stain, and hopes to pass it on to her kids someday too.  Not a bad life for an old abandoned chair in a field!

And Jen gave this old chair a whole new look with a happy mix of red and
white.  I love the screw hole covers, what a fun little detail!  She
could have easily just painted them red too, but it really makes a
difference in white. See it on her blog Girl In The Garage.

And one more unique seat fix, from Laurie who suspects this chair came from a pizza parlor.  She gave it a good, glossy coat of Banner Red from Krylon, but still wasn’t thrilled with look of the well-worn veneer on the seat.  Instead of a new cushion (time! effort!), she decided to just cover it with twine. Looks great and so easy! Just think of all the variations you could do with different thicknesses of twine.  See more of her before and afters on her blog Fix it Up When It’s Worn Out.