Simple Beginnings: Upcycled Chair

Thursday 26 July 2012

Upcycled Chair

I think this is an upcycled chair as it was destined for a skip outside somebodies house, my sister J was walking by and spotted the chair (there were two actually) knocked at house "Please can I have these chairs if you don't want them?" and so they came home with her. She gave me one of them. When it arrived at my house I could see why it had been destined for the tip as the cover was all ripped, the foam thin, the base all saggy, the joints a bit wobbly and it had obviously been stood in water for some time as the bottom of one of the legs was rotting a bit but hey other than that it was pristine!

Hhhhm lovely???

So first I sanded it all down which took a while cos I couldn't use the electric sander and it had layers of muck and varnish (The dog wouldn't budge and check out the jumperoo, don't worry we don't make little L use her jumperoo in the garage).

Then I glued some of the joints. I didn't want to pull the whole thing apart (then it would definitely have ended up in the tip) so I eased the loose pieces out a bit and squeezed wood glue in. Not the most thorough way but this chair will have a strict weight limit on it.

Glued

Glued some more

Then I rewaxed it, I could have carried on sanding it down forever as the wood it quite water stained, marked etc in places but I was done with sanding. I just used clear Briwax and put a couple of coats on.

Next I got a big square of 2 inch foam and marked it out and cut it with scissors. Not the best finish (bit jagged) but it costs to have foam cut to size and I couldn't be bothered with the faff. Once it is covered it will be fine.

Then to cover it. I really struggled picking some fabric for it as it was a Sunday morning passing stop off at the fabric shop and I went in on my own. Little L, her Dad and the dog were left in the roasting hot car, so I was under pressure. I nearly came out emptied handed but then found these lovely screen printed heavy weight linens. This one is from John Lewis so a bargain for just £2.50 for 3/4 of a meter.

I used a stapler and some drawings pins and just pulled the fabric tight and stapled it.

The underneath is not that neat but not bad considering.

The corners were really difficult too but they look OK.

Overall I'm really pleased. For less than £10 I have redone a chair, it looks quite good and is perfect for an occasional use chair in our dining room.