Today I am excited to share the Making Good blog train with you! I decided to fix up my old childhood desk chair and it will be going in my daughters new room. Read more below to see before and after pictures and how I made this chair sparkling new once again!
Agatha from Green Issues by Agy is taking her Fix It Friday around the globe! On May 1, the Making Good blog train will pull out of Singapore and document the possessions that other bloggers have fixed. We will show you how we mended them, and more importantly how we felt! Join us on our repair journey, and come back to Agy’s blog every Friday to see the top pics of the week!
Here is a schedule of the link up, be sure to stop by to see what these bloggers repaired/fixed:
1 May – Agatha www.greenissuessingapore.blogspot.com
2 May – Lisa http://www.cucicucicoo.com/
3 May – Millie www.2crochethooks.com
4 May – Stella www.purfylle.com
5 May Adeline www.accidental-mom-blogger.blogspot.sg/
6 May – Audrey www.angelheartscrafts.blogspot.com/
7 May – Yaney www.kawaiicuteness.wordpress.com/
8 May – Christine www.rhinestic81.blogspot.com/
9 May – Karen www.ruderecord.wordpress.com/
10 May – Kareena www.letsgoflyakiteuptothehighestheight.blogspot.sg/
11 May – Lapis www.lapiswilliam.wordpress.com
12 May – Vicky: www.vickymyerscreations.co.uk/
13 May – Brandi, www.supergirlsavings.com/
14 May – Carrie www.curlycraftymom.com/
15 May – Deborah www.urbannaturale.com/
16 May – Kathy www.smilefornoreason.net/
17 May – Cassandra www.hippiewithadragon.blogspot.com.au/
18 May Taking a Break!
20 May – Judith www.juicygreenmom.ca/
21 May – Vanessa www.sweetleighsewn.wordpress.com
22 May – Joy www.xoxograndma.blogspot.com
23 May – Julia www.sumoftheirstories.com
24 May – Amanda www.craftyfrugalmom.com
25 May – Diane www.VintageZest.com
26 May – Emily, www.theinnovativemama.com
27 May – Emmy www.emmymom2.com
28 May – Vanessa www.diy180site.blogspot.sg/
29 May – Jean Chua www.jeanstitch.wordpress.com/
30 May – Maya www.thelittletreasures.blogspot.sg/
So, are you ready to see the before and after pictures? Because, that is the best part in my opinion.
This chair is 35 years old and my mom bought it for me when I was 2 years old from JC Penney. You’ll see it has a yellow speckle finish, its scratched up, it’s missing a finial (the little decorative knob on the top) and the cushion is shot.
And, here it is after a little love. Huge difference!
Let’s start on how I repaired it (with lots of help from my hubs!):
At some point in time, one of the finials had fallen off of this chair.
We tried to find a finial that would match it at Lowes, but they only had REALLY big ones (think bed post). SO, my husband suggested we check out a wood working store that he had gone in with his dad when he was younger. It was all the way in north county in St. Louis, but I did call before we drove out there and they did have finials! Since it’d be impossible to find an exact match, we had to buy two finials (they were under $2 each) and replace both on the chair.
My husband sawed off the remaining finial that was on the chair, then used a half inch spade drill bit to drill a hole into each side of the chair to fit the new finials into. He used a little wood glue to keep them in place.
The chair was REALLY wobbly, because the overall frame had become loose over the years. I asked the hubby to fix that, too. 🙂 (I leave the hard work to him!) To fix this, he drilled a hole on each side on the back of the chair. He then put a 3 inch screw through the back into the frame of the seat with some wood glue. He also counter-sunk the screw holes so that the heads of the screws were below the top of the wood, then covered them over with wood putty.
Then my husband sanded it with an electric palm sander… it is the kind that vibrates, not the orbital kind. I could have probably done this part, but my husband was kind enough to do it for me. 🙂
After the chair was sanded, I applied one coat of primer to the chair. Then, I used the same white paint that we had leftover from when we painted Autumn’s walls in her room. I painted two coats of it on the chair.
I wanted to give the chair a ‘dipped’ look… so, I decided to paint the bottom of the front two legs with pink paint leftover from Autumn’s room when we painted her rainbow wall. Instead of using frog paint, I decided to use a small craft brush to paint around the edge.
Here is what it looked like after I painted it. I did two coats of the pink paint.
And, here is the chair with the front legs ‘dipped’ in pink. A little pink goes a long way!
The last part of fixing up this chair was to reupholster the cushion. I knew I wanted to reupholster it in a white fur. 🙂 First, I had my husband take the old cushion off (it was stapled on, so he removed several staples and then just ripped it off). Then, I pinned the old cushion onto the back of the new fur fabric.
Then, I took a black marker and drew an outline around the old cushion. This was my husbands idea, too… to use the old cushion as a template. 🙂
Center the new fabric under the wood and foam.
Use a staple gun to staple the fur fabric to the wooden back. I did do this part and the staple gun made me just a little nervous. Ha!!
And, ta-da! I NEW cushion that is oh so furry and soft!!
And, now I’ll share several photos of this beautiful chair!! This is the first chair I’ve ever redone, so I am really excited about it! I learned so much!
I hope you enjoyed my little chair makeover tutorial! And, if you look at the photos, you’ll see little yellow/orange petals on the grass. These are from my tulip tree in my backyard. This tree blooms tulips one time a year, it is really such a pretty tree.
So, are you ready to see who is up next on the blog train?
Deborah from Urban Naturale! And, if you haven’t visited any of previous bloggers that have already posted at the start of this month for the blog train, you should take some time to check out some of their projects. And, a big thanks to Agy for planning this blog train!
To see which parties I have linked up with, click HERE.
This chair is 35 years old and my mom bought it for me when I was 2 years old from JC Penney. You’ll see it has a yellow speckle finish, its scratched up, it’s missing a finial (the little decorative knob on the top) and the cushion is shot.
And, here it is after a little love. Huge difference!
Let’s start on how I repaired it (with lots of help from my hubs!):
At some point in time, one of the finials had fallen off of this chair.
We tried to find a finial that would match it at Lowes, but they only had REALLY big ones (think bed post). SO, my husband suggested we check out a wood working store that he had gone in with his dad when he was younger. It was all the way in north county in St. Louis, but I did call before we drove out there and they did have finials! Since it’d be impossible to find an exact match, we had to buy two finials (they were under $2 each) and replace both on the chair.
My husband sawed off the remaining finial that was on the chair, then used a half inch spade drill bit to drill a hole into each side of the chair to fit the new finials into. He used a little wood glue to keep them in place.
The chair was REALLY wobbly, because the overall frame had become loose over the years. I asked the hubby to fix that, too. 🙂 (I leave the hard work to him!) To fix this, he drilled a hole on each side on the back of the chair. He then put a 3 inch screw through the back into the frame of the seat with some wood glue. He also counter-sunk the screw holes so that the heads of the screws were below the top of the wood, then covered them over with wood putty.
Then my husband sanded it with an electric palm sander… it is the kind that vibrates, not the orbital kind. I could have probably done this part, but my husband was kind enough to do it for me. 🙂
After the chair was sanded, I applied one coat of primer to the chair. Then, I used the same white paint that we had leftover from when we painted Autumn’s walls in her room. I painted two coats of it on the chair.
I wanted to give the chair a ‘dipped’ look… so, I decided to paint the bottom of the front two legs with pink paint leftover from Autumn’s room when we painted her rainbow wall. Instead of using frog paint, I decided to use a small craft brush to paint around the edge.
Here is what it looked like after I painted it. I did two coats of the pink paint.
And, here is the chair with the front legs ‘dipped’ in pink. A little pink goes a long way!
The last part of fixing up this chair was to reupholster the cushion. I knew I wanted to reupholster it in a white fur. 🙂 First, I had my husband take the old cushion off (it was stapled on, so he removed several staples and then just ripped it off). Then, I pinned the old cushion onto the back of the new fur fabric.
Then, I took a black marker and drew an outline around the old cushion. This was my husbands idea, too… to use the old cushion as a template. 🙂
Center the new fabric under the wood and foam.
Use a staple gun to staple the fur fabric to the wooden back. I did do this part and the staple gun made me just a little nervous. Ha!!
And, ta-da! I NEW cushion that is oh so furry and soft!!
And, now I’ll share several photos of this beautiful chair!! This is the first chair I’ve ever redone, so I am really excited about it! I learned so much!
I hope you enjoyed my little chair makeover tutorial! And, if you look at the photos, you’ll see little yellow/orange petals on the grass. These are from my tulip tree in my backyard. This tree blooms tulips one time a year, it is really such a pretty tree.
So, are you ready to see who is up next on the blog train?
Deborah from Urban Naturale! And, if you haven’t visited any of previous bloggers that have already posted at the start of this month for the blog train, you should take some time to check out some of their projects. And, a big thanks to Agy for planning this blog train!
To see which parties I have linked up with, click HERE.
