Recovering our Chairs

It's funny to think about the family in Houston two years ago who threw these chairs on their curb for trash pickup. They have no idea that some lady (Hi, Mom!) would spot them, call her newly-a-homeowner-with-an-empty-house daughter to describe the trashy chairs that had "good bones" and potential once you looked past the faded purple-gone-brown stained and dog-furry fabric.


Here are the beauties before.
stained fabric (although awesomely geometric)

mysteriously sticky

and torn

But free :)


And...Fast-forward to when I get around to recovering these trash-to-treasure finds. Here's a peek at my process.


Demo and deep cleaning

primer & paint

meet fun Ikea fabric
staple guns

All arms and legs were used to pull the fabric as taut as I could.

Here's how they turned out. 

I decided to trim the chairs with double welt cording because I read it is the most forgiving trim since it's nice and wide. My favorite local fabric warehouse (remember, the place where I scavenged for my table runner pieces...) makes double-welt cording for a few dollars per yard. It turned out perfect...I love the quirky Tim Burton-y feel of the black and white diagonal stripes.





I love the hand-drawn quality of the Ikea fabric I picked for the seat of the chair and the backside. 




We're happy to have our old chairs a little bit freshened up :)