Antique Chair Makeover

This antique chair followed me home from one day. I had always wanted to do an upholstered chair like this, so at $5, thought I couldn’t go wrong with this little beauty.

(To see my youtube video of this restoration, )

Then I realised why it was such a bargain … the little side bar piece between the front and back legs was missing on one side (see pics above and below). I’d been caught out like this before and thought I’d given it a good check over, but must’ve missed this slight detail.

While I thought about a nifty solution to my problem, I thought I’d get the upholstery done. I found some of the lovely Paris fabric I’d used for my other stool recently (which you can see here), and got to work covering the seat using my trusty staple gun.

Okay, now to deal with that missing part … Measured up the dimensions of the one that was there and off I went to Bunnings to find me a piece of timber to fit.

Glad I took notice of my dad’s sawing techniques as I was growing up, and my Grandpa, being in the building trade, might have taught me a trick or two. So look out!

TA DA!! I had some stain handy, which happened to match, which even though I’m painting this one, is important for the look of the chair when you are painting Shabby Chic style and sanding back to show the timber colour underneath.

So here it is, all ready for painting:

I love using chalk paint at the moment and make my own (since Annie Sloan CP is not available here) using a little plaster of Paris mixed in with regular semi-gloss interior paint. Here it is after 2 coats (no priming necessary when you use chalk paint):

THE FINISHED LOOK – after a bit of sanding to the edges and wearing parts, and popping the seat back in.

And here she is with some of her lovely Shabby Chic friends – aka, projects I’ve worked on.

Click here to see the little CD Rack shelf transformation.

And here for the tiny Milking Stool project.

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Play my youtube video below of this same restoration project.

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