Antique Chair Makeover

A couple years ago my Mom gave me a chair that belonged to her Grandma. I remember this chair very vividly from my childhood, as it had a place in my home growing up. As a child I would look at this chair and imagine that it had a happy smiling face. As we have been decorating and furnishing our house I knew that I wanted it to have a place in our home. It definitely needed some TLC and I was able to finish this little makeover recently. I’m excited that it has been given new life!

The wood had been well loved and had quite a few scratches, very worn edges, and a tired and torn seat cover. I did a little research and found a product that I was excited to try on this cute chair. I used some Old English on the wood and am very happy with the results! I purchased the fabric at Hobby Lobby a couple years ago for a different project and was excited to be able to re-purpose it for this chair!

Here are some before pictures:

 

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Materials needed:

• Chair
• Old English
• Cleaning Cloth/Towel
• Fabric
• Staple Gun
• Screwdriver

Instructions:

First you will need to take off your seat cushion by removing the screws that are holding it in place. I cut some styrofoam to fit the size of the seat and placed it on top of the existing material on the seat, to give it some extra cushion and softness. Then you can start to re-cover the seat with your new fabric and secure it tightly with your Staple Gun. Place the seat onto the fabric, and cut the fabric with enough overlap to have a few inches on each side for stapling it to the wood. Then start stapling down one side, and then the opposite side making sure to pull the fabric tight to make sure there isn’t any extra loose fabric on the seat. Then staple the other two sides and start on your corners. It can be tricky to fold the corners just right because they will show on the front. I folded down the middle part first, then the two sides last to give it a nice clean look with two small folds showing on the corner.

Next you will start applying your Old English to the wood, by following the directions on the bottle. It recommends to apply the stain to the scratched and worn spots first, then applying it to the rest of the section. Then taking a clean section of the cloth and wiping off the excess. Afterwards I let it sit in the garage for a couple days to let it finish drying and let the fumes wear off.

The last step is to re-assemble your chair by screwing on your newly-covered seat cushion. With just a few steps your chair looks refreshed and beautiful!

Here is a before and after shot to compare the transformation:

 

The Old English really had great coverage on most of the scratches and dings in the wood. It looks so much better and still has some of the character with the color variations in the wood.

I loved giving this family heirloom some love and care, and I hope it will stay in our family for many years to come!

 

Do you have any family heirlooms that you treasure from your childhood? Do they have a special place in your home?

 

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