Before & After: chair makeover.

Thursday, March 04, 2010


My first upholstery project is finally done! Not that the process was that difficult but just getting all the materials together was a daunting task. Between two NYC snowstorms, picking out fabric and sanders I'm happy to have a finished product. The fabric is a charcoal geometric from Duralee and was originally intended for an ottoman but I loved it so much I used some of the extras to spruce up this little thrift shop find.I bought the Dewalt sander from Home Depot, obviously not something I would purchase for just one chair but I have a lot more projects in store and this baby will come in mighty handy.


I started by removing the seat and old vinyl fabric. There were a lot of rusty staples and tacks to deal with but it was a relatively painless task. It took about and hour and a half to sand the whole piece. First with a rough grit paper then finished with a fine grit to smooth everything out -- don't skip this step or you will have problems once it is painted. I could have used a detail sander to get into the small nooks but did it by hand, that will be my next purchase! I used two coats of satin white spray paint and let it dry for 24 hours. Having stretched so many canvases over the years the fabric stapling went quickly. The nickle tacks on the other hand were a bit more difficult. I think if I ever choose to use them again I will have to buy a spacer. All in all I think it went well and for the price of fabric and paint I have a brand new chair!

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