Karli from Rocky Bella
is one talented DIY-er! Take a look at her chair transformations:
Mid-Century Chair Revamp
I forgot to take a “before” picture.
I purchased a set of old chairs from Goodwill for $7.00 total. ($3.50 each). They had an old, textured, cream, super stained, nasty fabric on them. I mean Nasty! Why O’ Why did I forget to take a picture. =(
Anyways… I took the seat off, then reupholstered it with a mod fabric that was new and fresh but still went with the simplicity of the chair design.
I sanded down the chair really good with a fine sandpaper. The wood was a light brown-orange with some surface scratches.
Then I rubbed the stain in and let it sit for about 10 minutes before I rubbed the excess off with a dry, clean rag. The next day once it was dry, I used Minwax wipe-on poly in satin. I love this stuff. You just get a good corner of your rag covered in this stuff and wipe it on. Easy peasy- No brush strokes, and no clean up.
At least I remembered to get a good “Before & After” of the wood. Here it is before I stained and poly’ed and after I was done. Its a bit darker and definitely has a new sheen to it…
Once that was all dry I screwed the chair cushion back on the body of the chair and took a step back to check it all out. Now I have a new matching set of chairs for under $20!
Since it was over 100 degrees outside, I decided to do this all in my living room. I made sure to turn the ceiling fan on high to help with the ventilation, and used a mask for my mouth and nose. I know your not suppose to do this kind of thing inside, but come on- its too hot out there!
My husband had just finished picking up the living room right before I started this little project. He walked in and saw my giant mess, he just rolled his eyes and took a picture of my messiness.
Revamp: Funky Damask chair
I picked this up for $14. and spend about $6. on fabric (that was 40% off). I got the paint for free from my parents left over from what I used to re-do a built in cabinet for them. I used Deep Turquoise from Laura Ashely.
Once the paint was completely dry, I went over it with light sand paper. I did one more super light coat on some sections. Once that was dry, I distressed the edges and anywhere that normal wear and tear would show. Now that some of the original wood was showing through and everything was dry- I used Minwax wipe on Poly. Let dry, and reattached the newly upholstered seat.
Thanks for showing off Karli! I love your beautiful “new” chairs! The fabric – the transformation, I’d give you a standing ovation, but I’d rather have a seat! 😉
These look great! I seem to always find chairs for cheap. I will take a second look to see how I can redo them. Thanks for the inspiration!
What great transformations! I adore the blue chair! So pretty!
XO*Tricia
Thank you for featuring me! Your chair jokes made me laugh a lot!! It's awesome to be put on your blog since it's one of my super dooper favorites!!!
These chairs turned out so great, but that blue chair with the red seat cover is my fav! Absolutely charming! laurie