Finally!!! I'm so happy to debut these chairs. I put a lot of time into them - more than it may seem just by looking at them since dining chairs are the easiest re-upholstery project there is, and it's easy to slap on some paint, right? Read on friends. NOTE: If you don't care about all the drama or the who, what, where, why, and how... just scroll to the bottom for the chair reveal. :)
We bought an inexpensive dining room set in our last house for our formal dining room. It was very pretty, but it wasn't good quality and the chairs never felt solid. We didn't use it much though. In our future house, we have a "casual" dining room which is open to the kitchen and living room, so it will be used regularly. Maybe you've seen the table I refinished in my "Restoration Hardware Who?" post... the table is solid solid solid. I wanted some really high quality chairs to make an eclectic set...something frenchy with curves...a departure from the block-like rustic table. So I stalked craigslist for a couple months, and craigslist delivered!
As with most treasures on craigslist, you have to look past the fabric and paint/finish. Imagine these Drexel Heritage heirloom quality dining chairs sans the hideous floral fabric and avocado finish. Can you see the vision? Maybe if you just squint a little... no? ok just close your eyes altogether and trust me! :)
Not only are these chairs great quality, but I got a great deal. I paid $600 for the set of 8. We were just in a fancy consignment store last week and saw nearly the same set by Drexel Heritage set with 8 chairs for $5,500!
The chairs were in excellent shape, though one chair had one leg that needed some tightening. And through sheer paranoia from our last dining set, and a general lack of moderation in anything I do, I figured while I was tightening that one leg, I might as well tighten the rest of the legs on it. Then while I was tightening that chair, might as well do them all. Then before I knew it, I was disassembling, gluing and clamping every chair. It probably wasn't necessary, but I feel like these chairs could survive a tornado even if left outside. (slight exaggeration, but only slight)
Some clamping was straightforward, and some required the assistance of the Nugget's foam blocks. Gotta be resourceful when you're a DIY-er. :)
I decided on a generally white finish for the chairs to tie in the white kitchen and after comparing about 20 white paint swatches I chose Martha Stewart "Popcorn." Not sure how they came up with this name because it's kind of a dulled gray-white, as opposed to having the slightest hint of gold, brown, or any other color you might associate with popcorn. Does this look like any popcorn you've popped lately? And I chose a dull white instead of bright white because paint always seems to appear lighter/brighter on furniture.
So, I bought a quart and made my own chalk-like paint as I've been doing lately. I used 2/3 of the quart to mix in my recipe of water and plaster of paris and had some leftover after 2.5 coats of paint on 8 chairs. not bad!
With all the seats removed I just cleaned each chair with TSP substitute (with rubber gloves and a sponge). I didn't sand at all! I just started slapping on paint. Gotta love chalk paint!
After 2 coats, the chairs were pristine and like shiny new white chairs. It caused me a great deal of agony to start dirtying up something so shiny and new looking, but I did it. I have to keep reminding myself that I want this house to feel loved and lived in. I tried a couple different techniques like sand-distressing, and a glaze, but I ended up using the Minwax classic gray oil based stain leftover from the table. I brushed it into all the details and then wiped it off. The chalk-like paint is very porous and accepted the stain really well.
You can see in the two photos below, the chairs on the left have been stained gray and the chair on the right is all pristine and white. The gray stained chairs were not done at this point - this was at their "dirtiest." But you can see how the stain really brings out all the beautiful curves and carvings!
Here is a closeup after the chairs got their final coat of white dry brushing to tone down the excess gray stain. It wasn't until this phase that I relaxed a little finally feeling like I didn't ruin the beautiful white paint job.
After all that, I took the lazy way out and used polycrylic in a spray can (3 cans actually) to seal them (2 full coats and one light one). I was bored with my paintbrush at this point and didn't want to deal with poly drips on 8 pieces. The spray poly went on really nicely and dried fast and then they were done! So all 8 chairs sat in this refinished stage for about a month or more.
I struggled in choosing fabric for the seats! I knew I'd be painting the buffet a soft lilac color, but the kitchen is going to be white with an aqua backsplash, so I was hoping to find a fabric that had both tones in it. I didn't want a high contrast pattern because I didn't want the seats to look modern, and I didn't want anything too soft and pastel because with the white curvy chairs, they'd look too sweet - fit for a tea party! I found an older discontinued waverly fabric that has an aqua background with lilac paisley and I'm a sucker for paisley. I had to buy from 2 different places online in order to get enough because it's discontinued and hard to find, and I hadn't even seen it in person! As soon as I ordered it I had buyers remorse but it was on its way. Then, before it arrived, I happened randomly upon the perfect fabric in the most unlikely of places (Garden Ridge - it's a cheap warehouse style home decor and seasonal place in the DFW area) and bought way more than I need, and why not when it's only $4/yard!!? It's nice to have options! When the waverly fabric arrived it was totally different colors than I expected, and I absolutely love it but couldn't use it for the chairs--see previous tea party concern. I will definitely find a good use for it - maybe my craft room!! Anyway, I decided to use the pre-cut fabric I got at Garden Ridge. It's a solid muted barely-there deep purple in matte, lightly textured vinyl, which is perfect for our little ones and their father. Sorry honey - it's true.
So I removed the bajillion staples holding on the heinous floral fabric that came on the seats. (this was 2 chairs worth of staples in the photo below) I had to do 8 chairs! I found a small investment in this little upholstery tool was a lifesaver. It gets under the staple, then you just rock it and it pulls the staple all the way out. Using a flat head screwdriver it took a lot of effort to get under the staple, and then i'd have to use pliers to pull it all the way out. This little tool helped me do double or triple the work in the same time.
I cut out all my fabric just to have that done and cleaned up, and so glad I did! Though it would have been devastating if the shape or size was off in some way. I knew I had cut the pieces bigger than needed, so crisis averted and it was nice to have the fabric ready to go.
So I got stapling with my new Bostitch electric staple gun. And queue the expletives to begin shooting from my unladylike mouth. For every staple I successfully sank into the seat, one or two would either jam or not sink in more than a millimeter. It took me a LONG time to do one seat. So coupled with the fact that I was working with heavy vinyl and trying to get a smooth finish along 4 curved sides... it was a nightmare. I hated this project at this point. So I switched to a manual staple gun. This was better, but my hand was blistered and I was sweating bullets after 1 seat. Then I got thinking... and this is dangerous when I get thinking. I've got lots of projects ahead of me with this up-cycling kick I'm on and a whole house to furnish, so perhaps if we had the right tools, all these projects would just be so much more pleasant.
So Brent cashed in some credit card rewards for gift cards to Lowes and Amazon and we treated ourselves to an Air Compressor and a Pneumatic Staple Gun. Yay!!!! To say these are life changing tools is an understatement, that is, once you get over the 8 pages of "Warning: This compressor will likely kill you. CAUTION: This compressor could possibly kill you." messages in the otherwise content-less user guide. It's much less scary after you get one project under your belt. Note, neither the compressor user guide nor the stapler user guide even mentioned the use of teflon tape on the air hose couplers, but we did need to add it to prevent air leaks, just FYI if you're running out to buy one! :)
This is the compressor we bought (for free kinda):
And this staple gun (that's a manufacturer image, not my hand!):
Porter-Cable US58 1/4-Inch to 5/8-Inch 22-Gauge C-Crown Upholstery Stapler
So once we got all set up (it took an entire Saturday's naptime for us to get it figured out with the lack of instruction/guidance for compressor newbies. The kids were up by the time we were done troubleshooting, so I had to postpone work another day. But then the glorious Sunday naptime came and in just a couple hours I had finished all 8 chairs.
Here they are, done and ready to be moved out of sight. They're lovely but I'm so happy to get them out of myworkshop foyer!
My hands, fingers, and fingernails are all still so sore today from all the tugging on the vinyl. I bought a $20 wingback chair from a goodwill type store to teach myself to reupholster like the big girls, and I was thinking that'd be my next project, but my fingers are screaming at me so maybe I need a break for a day or two. :) Stay tuned!
Also, both houses look like they're ready for concrete, so I hope to have a construction update for you next week!
We bought an inexpensive dining room set in our last house for our formal dining room. It was very pretty, but it wasn't good quality and the chairs never felt solid. We didn't use it much though. In our future house, we have a "casual" dining room which is open to the kitchen and living room, so it will be used regularly. Maybe you've seen the table I refinished in my "Restoration Hardware Who?" post... the table is solid solid solid. I wanted some really high quality chairs to make an eclectic set...something frenchy with curves...a departure from the block-like rustic table. So I stalked craigslist for a couple months, and craigslist delivered!
As with most treasures on craigslist, you have to look past the fabric and paint/finish. Imagine these Drexel Heritage heirloom quality dining chairs sans the hideous floral fabric and avocado finish. Can you see the vision? Maybe if you just squint a little... no? ok just close your eyes altogether and trust me! :)
Not only are these chairs great quality, but I got a great deal. I paid $600 for the set of 8. We were just in a fancy consignment store last week and saw nearly the same set by Drexel Heritage set with 8 chairs for $5,500!
 |
| Drexel Heritage Dining Chairs: BEFORE |
The chairs were in excellent shape, though one chair had one leg that needed some tightening. And through sheer paranoia from our last dining set, and a general lack of moderation in anything I do, I figured while I was tightening that one leg, I might as well tighten the rest of the legs on it. Then while I was tightening that chair, might as well do them all. Then before I knew it, I was disassembling, gluing and clamping every chair. It probably wasn't necessary, but I feel like these chairs could survive a tornado even if left outside. (slight exaggeration, but only slight)
Some clamping was straightforward, and some required the assistance of the Nugget's foam blocks. Gotta be resourceful when you're a DIY-er. :)
I decided on a generally white finish for the chairs to tie in the white kitchen and after comparing about 20 white paint swatches I chose Martha Stewart "Popcorn." Not sure how they came up with this name because it's kind of a dulled gray-white, as opposed to having the slightest hint of gold, brown, or any other color you might associate with popcorn. Does this look like any popcorn you've popped lately? And I chose a dull white instead of bright white because paint always seems to appear lighter/brighter on furniture.
So, I bought a quart and made my own chalk-like paint as I've been doing lately. I used 2/3 of the quart to mix in my recipe of water and plaster of paris and had some leftover after 2.5 coats of paint on 8 chairs. not bad!
With all the seats removed I just cleaned each chair with TSP substitute (with rubber gloves and a sponge). I didn't sand at all! I just started slapping on paint. Gotta love chalk paint!
After 2 coats, the chairs were pristine and like shiny new white chairs. It caused me a great deal of agony to start dirtying up something so shiny and new looking, but I did it. I have to keep reminding myself that I want this house to feel loved and lived in. I tried a couple different techniques like sand-distressing, and a glaze, but I ended up using the Minwax classic gray oil based stain leftover from the table. I brushed it into all the details and then wiped it off. The chalk-like paint is very porous and accepted the stain really well.
You can see in the two photos below, the chairs on the left have been stained gray and the chair on the right is all pristine and white. The gray stained chairs were not done at this point - this was at their "dirtiest." But you can see how the stain really brings out all the beautiful curves and carvings!
Here is a closeup after the chairs got their final coat of white dry brushing to tone down the excess gray stain. It wasn't until this phase that I relaxed a little finally feeling like I didn't ruin the beautiful white paint job.
 |
| BONUS POINTS if you noticed that the appliques I added to the buffet are a near perfect match to the style of carvings on these chairs! :) |
After all that, I took the lazy way out and used polycrylic in a spray can (3 cans actually) to seal them (2 full coats and one light one). I was bored with my paintbrush at this point and didn't want to deal with poly drips on 8 pieces. The spray poly went on really nicely and dried fast and then they were done! So all 8 chairs sat in this refinished stage for about a month or more.
I struggled in choosing fabric for the seats! I knew I'd be painting the buffet a soft lilac color, but the kitchen is going to be white with an aqua backsplash, so I was hoping to find a fabric that had both tones in it. I didn't want a high contrast pattern because I didn't want the seats to look modern, and I didn't want anything too soft and pastel because with the white curvy chairs, they'd look too sweet - fit for a tea party! I found an older discontinued waverly fabric that has an aqua background with lilac paisley and I'm a sucker for paisley. I had to buy from 2 different places online in order to get enough because it's discontinued and hard to find, and I hadn't even seen it in person! As soon as I ordered it I had buyers remorse but it was on its way. Then, before it arrived, I happened randomly upon the perfect fabric in the most unlikely of places (Garden Ridge - it's a cheap warehouse style home decor and seasonal place in the DFW area) and bought way more than I need, and why not when it's only $4/yard!!? It's nice to have options! When the waverly fabric arrived it was totally different colors than I expected, and I absolutely love it but couldn't use it for the chairs--see previous tea party concern. I will definitely find a good use for it - maybe my craft room!! Anyway, I decided to use the pre-cut fabric I got at Garden Ridge. It's a solid muted barely-there deep purple in matte, lightly textured vinyl, which is perfect for our little ones and their father. Sorry honey - it's true.
So I removed the bajillion staples holding on the heinous floral fabric that came on the seats. (this was 2 chairs worth of staples in the photo below) I had to do 8 chairs! I found a small investment in this little upholstery tool was a lifesaver. It gets under the staple, then you just rock it and it pulls the staple all the way out. Using a flat head screwdriver it took a lot of effort to get under the staple, and then i'd have to use pliers to pull it all the way out. This little tool helped me do double or triple the work in the same time.
I cut out all my fabric just to have that done and cleaned up, and so glad I did! Though it would have been devastating if the shape or size was off in some way. I knew I had cut the pieces bigger than needed, so crisis averted and it was nice to have the fabric ready to go.
So I got stapling with my new Bostitch electric staple gun. And queue the expletives to begin shooting from my unladylike mouth. For every staple I successfully sank into the seat, one or two would either jam or not sink in more than a millimeter. It took me a LONG time to do one seat. So coupled with the fact that I was working with heavy vinyl and trying to get a smooth finish along 4 curved sides... it was a nightmare. I hated this project at this point. So I switched to a manual staple gun. This was better, but my hand was blistered and I was sweating bullets after 1 seat. Then I got thinking... and this is dangerous when I get thinking. I've got lots of projects ahead of me with this up-cycling kick I'm on and a whole house to furnish, so perhaps if we had the right tools, all these projects would just be so much more pleasant.
So Brent cashed in some credit card rewards for gift cards to Lowes and Amazon and we treated ourselves to an Air Compressor and a Pneumatic Staple Gun. Yay!!!! To say these are life changing tools is an understatement, that is, once you get over the 8 pages of "Warning: This compressor will likely kill you. CAUTION: This compressor could possibly kill you." messages in the otherwise content-less user guide. It's much less scary after you get one project under your belt. Note, neither the compressor user guide nor the stapler user guide even mentioned the use of teflon tape on the air hose couplers, but we did need to add it to prevent air leaks, just FYI if you're running out to buy one! :)
This is the compressor we bought (for free kinda):
And this staple gun (that's a manufacturer image, not my hand!):
Porter-Cable US58 1/4-Inch to 5/8-Inch 22-Gauge C-Crown Upholstery Stapler
So once we got all set up (it took an entire Saturday's naptime for us to get it figured out with the lack of instruction/guidance for compressor newbies. The kids were up by the time we were done troubleshooting, so I had to postpone work another day. But then the glorious Sunday naptime came and in just a couple hours I had finished all 8 chairs.
Here they are, done and ready to be moved out of sight. They're lovely but I'm so happy to get them out of my
 |
| AFTER! |
My hands, fingers, and fingernails are all still so sore today from all the tugging on the vinyl. I bought a $20 wingback chair from a goodwill type store to teach myself to reupholster like the big girls, and I was thinking that'd be my next project, but my fingers are screaming at me so maybe I need a break for a day or two. :) Stay tuned!
Also, both houses look like they're ready for concrete, so I hope to have a construction update for you next week!
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