Mid-century Chair Makeover

I am really excited about this week’s reworked item.  I was at Goodwill last week looking for some clothes for Bradley and ran across a cool mid-century chair.  I didn’t buy it, but kept thinking about it all day and what fun things I could do with it.  So, I went back later that day and decided if it was still there, then I was meant to have it.  $15 later and I am trying to figure out how to get it into my car.

I stripped the finish off the wood arms/legs using my trusty mouse sander and re-stained them with a mahogany Minwax stain.  After removing the faded piecemealed red ticking striped fabric and the eleventy billion staples from the chair, Bradley helped me pick out some fabric at JoAnn’s (yea for 50% off sale with 10% additional coupon!) to recover the seat/back.  Knowing that it would be in the corner of our bedroom and the back wouldn’t show, I made sure the front and side fabric was stretched smooth, then made my folds on the back/side seams running vertically and pulled the fabric straight down the back in one solid piece.  The only visible staples run down that seam on either side of the back of the chair.  (I guess if the chair were ever going to be used out in a room with the back exposed, I can always go back and put some nail-head trim down each side.)

The fabric was still twice as expensive as the chair itself, but I LOVE it.  So mod, so high-end looking!  I think this could easily have come from Z Gallerie or West Elm for hundreds of dollars (ok, so maybe the upholstering job would have been a little nicer on theirs:), yet I spent just $50 and a little time.

Before (faded piecemealed red ticking striped fabric and medium oak-stained legs):

After:

(Close-up of new fabric and where I had to make my tucks and stapling)