Finally...the "$5 fabulous find" chair has been refinished!
I wasn't loving the original cherry wood finish
but I knew she had great potential.
So I sanded her down and applied Briwax Liming Wax,
which I had never ever used before and ended up loving. Here she is with her new wax job...
Ahhhh, so much better.
The next step was to reupholster the seat. Overall she was was in great condition. For extra padding, I added a layer of cotton batting to the top of the seat and covered with a layer of muslin (no pics of this step - sorry!).
Next was the bottom of the seat. I didn't want to mess with the internal springs and whatnot, so with some help from the hubs, I just reinforced the bottom. Here is what it the bottom looked like originally. The jute webbing was a tad old.
Unfortunately when I went to the fabric store and asked where to find the "jute webbing", the woman looked at me like I had just asked her for the a shirt off her own back and proceeded to show me to the "belt section". Hhmm, thanks lady. Clearly she had never reupholstered anything before but I took her direction just to be nice. Rather than delay this chair makeover any longer, I settled on some canvas webbing.
Not ideal by any means, but let's be honest, this was my first forte into reupholstering and was going to have to "make-do".
I also found this great striped fabric to cover the seat...
Several hours later, with some creative folding and stapling (and many curse words)I was finished.
The upholstery tacks were by far THE HARDEST part about this project. Let's just say that I have a new appreciation for people who do furniture upholstery for a living. Their hands must be torn to shreds because mine were after hammering in a total of 12 upholstery tacks. I may never use them again - not kidding!
But I thought they gave her the right finishing touch.
Do you like her fabric? I love it and must credit the hubs with steering me in the "bold" fabric direction.
I was on the path to drab-city with the original muted solid fabric I picked out for her.
I just adore her! What do you think?
