So here's a little back story. I got this chair a few years ago from my dad's coworker. He had a whole storage unit full of old furniture and the only thing I could fit in my apartment was this chair. Keep in mind this was before old became the new new, and the rest of my apartment was full of super cheap ikea furniture. I look back and think of what I could have passed up in that storage unit and know that somewhere the Picker Sisters and those other dudes from that other picker show are seriously disappointed in me. But-I digress… we were talking about the chair.
"The Ugly Green Chair" as I lovingly refer to it. I have grown to hate it over the years. I got it with the intention of fixing it up, but life got in the way and I haven't had the time. Instead, I covered it with blankets or piles of clothes. Every time I moved I thought about leaving it on the curb. It was fine for a college apartment, but I'm a grown-up now. I need a grown-up chair, right? But, grown-up chairs cost grown-up money, and my husband made me keep it this last time we moved. "It's not that bad!" he said… "Plus we need something to sit on, we don't have couch." Ugh, men.
I'm over The Ugly Green Chair for real now. The only things that sit on it are my purse or the dog. The only time I actually use it is when I get home from hot yoga and I'm too sweaty to sit on the nice new white couch but the floor is too far away so I sit myself down on the very edge of the ugly green chair-because if I'm honest I'm more afraid of the chair getting dirt on me than I am of getting dirt on the chair. SO, it's time to part ways with the eyesore. This will be a 4 part post (I've reserved a 5th post in the event of a hospital visit). Commence re-covering The Ugly Green Chair and transforming it into The Chair! Or, THE CHAIR…as I refer to it in my day dreams.
Did I mention I don't know what I'm doing? I mean, I have more background knowledge than most. I can cover a person, that's what I do for a living, but I don't know the first thing about covering something whose arms and legs are unmovable. How do you think my chair would look in a cocktail dress? Ok, fine. A day dress would go better with the rest of the room.
If this turns out well it will be a serious win for girl vs. craft. If it doesn't turn out well it means I need some recommendations for furniture stores and we'll never speak of this again. The Ugly Green Chair will be to us what Voldemort is to the wizarding world. "Chair-who-must-not-be-named." (Don't judge me.)
Ok, enough procrastinating…Here I go….
What you'll need: (for this part) a chair-duh, something to remove staples and tacks-I used a screw driver, needle nosed pliers, a hammer, and scissors. You may also want a bag to throw your trash in as you go.
cost: (for this part) free! Kind of. I already had the chair and the supplies. But YOU may need to find your own chair.
difficulty level: hard. Think blood, sweat, and tears… and swear words.
step one: survey they damage
Every beautiful edge of my chair has been horribly patched, and not by me.
You'll also notice the ornate carved feet... hey wait! A moving guy took a big ol' chunk off of that one.
This is my goofy dog sitting on "her" chair for the last time. She kind of looks like a goat in this pic. Maybe she'll get reupholstered next...
step two: demolition. this is where you basically tear the chair apart leaving only the frame and the springs. I started by removing the awful patch job. Then moved on to the bottom of the chair, where I began tediously pulling out staple after staple after staple after nail after tack after staple.
After the bottom I moved on to the sides and the back. I think at this point my goal is to not tear the fabric too much because I'll use it as a pattern for my new fabric. Throw away the batting because that will be replaced. Throw away the countless staples or your dog will try to eat them.
who needs needle and thread when you have these bad boys? watch out and never grab the fabric of the chair without checking for nail or staples first.
keep going! take off the back panel and then the side panels... you'll be able to tell how they are layered as you go.
the back all cleaned off. all that's left are the springs, which I'm leaving since they are still in great shape and I'm not that good.
here's one almost finished side! See all those tufts of batting stuck to the frame still? I'm going to go in and clean those off once all the fabric is off.
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