Updated Chair

This chair belonged to my Uncle's mother. After she passed away, they offered it to me. The seat was vinyl and a corner was torn exposing the wood seat, the cushion was flat, it was outdated and it really needed some TLC.



So I decided to give it that TLC and then give it a new home.

If you decide to do this, you will need...
spray primer
spray paint
flat-head screwdriver
possibly phillips-head screw driver
new fabric
maybe new foam cushion (if the foam on the chair you are re-doing needs replacing)
staple gun
staples to fit your staple gun

First look the chair over and remove the screws using a flat-head or phillips-head screwdriver (depending on the type of screws in your chair) that are holding the seat on. (Mine had four screws under the seat.) Do NOT lose these screws, you will need them again later to reassemble your chair.

Next remove all the staples holding the vinyl covering on. This can be done with a flat head screwdriver. After removing the damaged or outdated seat cover and the foam cushion you can disposed of them if you are not able to reuse them for another project.



Lightly sand the chair and prime it (I used a black spray primer because I was using a black paint, if you will be using a lighter colored paint, use a white primer). Then completely cover the chair with several light coats of spray paint, allowing it to dry between coats.

While the coats are drying take a piece of fabric that will coordinate with the color that you are painting the chair. (In my case I found the fabric first and then purchased paint to go with the fabric. Either way you do it is fine.) When you are recovering a chair seat, measure the wooden seat part and add about 6 inches to the width and another 6 inches to the height. (This should be sufficient unless you have a super thick piece of foam - more than 1/2 inch thick, if so, add more fabric.)

Lay the fabric right side down, center the new piece of foam on the wrong side of the fabric. Now place your wooden seat over the foam. Take the top piece of fabric and wrap it up over the side of the foam to the bottom side of the wooden seat (which will be facing up at this point). You should have about 2 or 3 inches of fabric to staple down. To make it easier, put pressure with one hand mashing the foam while pulling the fabric to the bottom of the chair seat with the other hand.

Using a staple gun, staple in the center of the fabric. Do this to the bottom, then the left and right sides. Now you can continue to pull the fabric taught and staple around the top, bottom and sides, carefully folding at the corners.

Once the fabric is completely secured with staples, screw the seat back on to the chair frame.



Here is my finished chair. I love it!

Before


After


Note: I used the same fabric for the chair seat that I used for the place mats and table runner here.

In the background is the old wardrobe that I remade over (check it out here) and since it has chalk board paint on the doors, my boys can't resist becoming artists - you can see some of their artwork next to the chair.

Lots to Post

Wow! It has been a long time since I've posted and my apologies to you. I haven't been able to even read the blogs that I follow and keep up with them. We are nearing the end of the school year and the kids have so many different things going on with school and their activities. Plus in less than 10 days Anthony will be six, so I am working on what to do for him. [Anthony and Champ's birthdays are 10 days apart so I usually combine their birthdays into one get-together, but Champ wanted something separate this year.]

There are awards at the middle school, there is the end of the year bash, Anthony was in the talent show at the elementary school and he has Kindergarten graduation coming up, there have been school trips to the park (for both schools) and to the zoo for the elementary, Lee is in Boy Scouts and Champ is in Cub Scouts, Frank has been in hay (yes, it's hay season here), plus we just had our last MOPS meeting of the year and it is usually our biggest and we want to make it our best, we still have our MOPS annual picnic coming up and our Summer Steering Team Retreat that I have to get ready for and there is just one of me. (I feel a little stretched.)

Some things I just wasn't able to do because they happened at the same time. I feel really bad that I had to let someone down. I usually did the activity that I knew about first and that way I didn't feel as if I was showing one favoritism over the other. (I hope they didn't feel like I did either.)

I have been extremely tired. So tired that I feel I am having trouble functioning and have considered going to the doctor. Frank said that if I would just quit volunteering at the schools so much, it would probably fix my problem. He may be right, but to me - that's one of the joys of and reasons for being a SAHM. So I am able to do all these things for and with my children.

Lee & Champ are both in middle school and ask me to come participate with them, I'm so afraid that will be coming to an end very soon. They grow up too fast and are usually all too ready to get away from their parents. I don't know when it will come to an end, but I sure would have hated to have missed out on this year and then next year they didn't want me around. So I will cherish every moment that I have with them for as long as they will let me. I can rest when they get married.

I have been crafting in my spare time and trying to take a few pictures, then there are pictures that I still need to take (of completed projects) and then I forgot to take some pictures of things that I made for gifts and I've already given them away. Oh, well - that's life I guess (or at least that's me - I am so forgetful).

Here is one of the projects that I did like a month ago (maybe longer) for a friend's son's third birthday.



I purchased the pattern here at YouCanMakeThis (I love this site).

My kids loved the chair so much that I had to make Anthony and Rance one (those are completed projects without pix - hopefully coming soon). Lee & Champ wanted one too, but it is designed for up to 50 lbs. and they are quite a bit more than that. They keep asking me just to make it bigger (but that would make it weaker I think). I have caught Lee & Champ sitting in Anthony's and Rance's chairs and they haven't fallen apart or broken yet. (It's a pretty tight squeeze though.) ;o)

This is the last week of school (Friday is the last day). I hope that means that I will have time to post more, but having all four of them home may mean that there is less time to post. Just don't give up on me. I'll post when I can and think about you daily.