Chair Rehab

I am a professional photographer by trade and I'm always looking for cute props that don't scream "PROP" to me. So today, I head out to go to my local thrift store (that I love minus having to ring a bell to use the restroom!) and I found this beauty.



What? You don't see beauty? We'll if you don't now, you surely wouldn't have with the black faux leather seat cushion. It was hideous and smelled bad too! I just knew she (Of course it's a she. What man would have those curves?) could be rehabed into something as wonderful as she was 40 years ago. With a whopping $3.88 price tag, I had to give it a try. So, I load her and her friend up. Yes, I bought 2 chairs today. More on the other one later though. I left the thrift store and hit the back roads to Hobby Lobby for some great fabric to reupholster the seat.

I picked out this great fabric. It's my favorite color combination right now and a great mod print. The fabric was $8.99/yd but of course Mrs. Frugal had a coupon. If you go to Hob Lob always check their site to sere if they have a 40% off coupon for the week! I only needed 1/2 yard so the fabric was $3.00 or so I guess.



I brought her home, cleaned her up a bit, removed the seat and gave her a good coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint by Krylon. While the frame was drying I came in and removed the gorg pleather cover from the seat and all eleventy million staples the previous person used. I laid my fabric face down and put the seat on top face down. I started in the middle of the back side and stapled a few times. Then I worked my way around to the sides. The sides are a little bit tricky sometimes, but just make the folds as neat as possible, especially on the front. After I had it secure, I put a few more staples for good measure and low and behold, the chair was dry. I guess the only positive side to it being 100 degrees in the South these days is that spray paint will dry in about 10 minutes. So, I flipped the chair upside down, used the existing screws and screw holes and reattached the seat. Easy Peasy! Isn't she just loverly?



Ah, those gorgeous curvy lines!


And, since you haven't been able go to any store and buy a chair like this since Jesus as a baby, I decided to distress it a little bit. It's the perfect combination of old and new with the mod fabric and vintage bones.



So, for under $7.00, I have a new chair that is super cute and I'm not going to find it in anyone else's home, except for the elderly lady down the street, but I'll betcha that her's will still be covered in some green floral fabric circa 1957.

I can't wait to put this chair to good use tomorrow for my photo session!

I'm linking up here...


and here www.southernhospitalityblog.com