Such is the case with the chairs in today's makeover. About two months ago, I stopped a garage sale, While it didn't have a lot for sale, I wanted just about everything that was there. My eyes locked on this pair of chairs the minute my feet stepped out of my car and I began picturing them being painted white long before knowing the price. They were just what I was looking for to sell at my summer market.
When my good friend Kendra from Joy in Our Home asked me if I wanted to join in with her and some other talented ladies to give our garage sale finds a makeover, I knew exactly what I would share. You are going to love seeing all these transformations over the next few days. Doesn't Kendra's living room end table look fabulous?!?! Everyone's links appear near the end of this post.
While these chairs were sold as a pair, they don't completely match. As you can probably see, one chair is shorter than the other and the bases are different. So strange, but I've heard that old chairs sometimes came like this because one was for the male head of the family and the other shorter one would have been for his wife. Can anyone verify this information?
Tearing the black floral upholstery off the chair revealed the original horsehair and hay filler used to upholster chairs. I chose to keep this under the new upholstery because I find things like that very neat and like to maintain a little history. (As a little side tip, be as careful as possible when removing old upholstery so that you can use the old fabric as a template for cutting the new fabric. It will make the job so much easier.)
I painted the chair with two coats of Fusion Mineral Paint in Champlain, and then did some distressing around the edges to reveal the dark finish underneath and in some places went clear down to the original wood.
Since the Fusion brand paint has a built in top coat, that is all I needed to do to completely update the frames of the two chairs.
Then the seat of the chair was upholstered in an ordinary canvas drop cloth. Since I was unable to find trim that I liked to coordinate between the creamy white painted finish and drop cloth, I ended up making my own trim out of more drop cloth and I like that it just blends into the upholstery. The frame of the chair makes enough of a statement and doesn't need the extra pop from a different trim.
These two chairs are probably my favorite pieces of furniture that I've ever completed. Their frames are so ornate and unique. And while a lot of vintage furniture is a little stiff and uncomfortable for actual sitting, these chairs are pretty comfy because they have springs underneath the seat.
And I love that they are chairs that can sit in the middle of a room and look right at home. The backs deserve to be seen! You can't often say that about chairs you may place in your living room.
These chairs were hard to say goodbye to, but I really had no where to use them at the moment. It was nice to see them go to a couple of good homes, though!
On a side note, this old leather footstool is another one of those finds that I just had to have. It was purchased right before Christmas last year and even though it is pretty rugged and beat up, I see a little bit of perfection. It is worn in all the right places.
It is built much like the chairs with huge springs underneath to provide a lot of cushion for your feet.
HERE ARE SOME OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY
Grandma's antique dining table gets an update
An updated antique booster chair
A yard sale chair makeover
Fixing and updating a broken roll top desk
Dining room sideboard made from an antique dresser
Whether you are a regular reader or just stopping by today as part of our blog hop, thank you so much for visiting. I hope that you are inspired to visit a few garage sales this upcoming weekend in your neighborhood to find something that needs a little love!
What kind of things can you not walk away from at garage sales and antique stores?
Now, please be sure to continue on with our tour. My friend Kristi from Making It in the Mountains is sharing something special to hang on your wall that you must see!
Monday
Tuesday
Little Red Brick House
Pocketful of Posies
Wednesday
Please know that some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This allows me to make a small commission if you purchase something, but your price will stay the same. I only will share products I believe in and all opinions are my own. You can view my disclosure policy here. Thank you so much for helping to support this blog!
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