How to repurpose an old chair

How to revamp an old chair


Materials Needed:
- an old chair
- fabric
- paint
- paint brush
- scissors 
- fabric
- staple gun
- screwdriver

1.  Tear apart the chair 
Using your tools, figure out how to disassemble the chair.  Save all the screws and little pieces.  Next, fix anything on the chair that may need help.  For this chair, it was the springs.  One had come undone, and needed to be screwed back into place. 
Note: Choose a chair with simple, clean lines.  Don't try something to complicated for your first project.

 
2.  Paint
Sand, prime, and paint the wooden parts in the colour you desire.  Remember, do multiple thin coats.  Sand paint dribbles and brush streaks between each coat.  Let dry thoroughly.  

3. Reupholster
It is not always necessary to tear off the old fabric first.  If I had done that with this chair, the padding probably would have gotten ruined.  Instead, I just put the new fabric right on top of the old.  It also added extra padding.

However, sometimes with more complicated projects, it is easier to first remove the fabric, then use the old fabric as a template to cut the new.  This chair was pretty simple.

Cut the fabric, staple it on the sides that will be covered by the frame, and voila.  This chair needed some extra padding in places, so I made sure to add that before I reupholstered it.


4.  Reassemble the chair.
Put the chair back together the same way it was taken apart.

This was the inspiration for my chair.  It came from the Style At Home magazine, January 2012 issue.  I went to European Fabrics on Ottawa Street to seek out similar fabric, and to my delight, they carried the exact fabric.  They only had the brown in stock, and to order the yellow was going to cost $80 / yard to order.  I decided to practice on the fabric they had, at $30/yard.  Still a gorgeous print, in my opinion!