I Put a Bird On It - Chair Makeover

I've been sitting on this post for quite awhile...pun intended.

*crickets chirp*

Okay, on with the show. I purchased this chair so long ago that I'm not positive whether it was a Goodwill or a Salvation Army find. (My money's on SA since our Goodwill rarely has good furniture and even more rarely has "older" pieces like this. It has great decor stuff and Target hand-me-downs, but its furniture is miss...with the infrequent hit here or there.) So, yeah, let's go with SA, which means it was less than $20...and it may very well have been less than $10. I kid you not.

The cushion was either worn to the foam or just had really strange (also worn) fabric. Either way, there appeared to be holes, quite possibly from someone's ciggy. This thing was C-L-A-S-S-I-C. I fought with myself whether to paint the wood or not, but it was so dinged here and there that I just had to go with it.

Sexy, amiright?

I won't get into all the gory details. The "body" of the piece was just a sand, prime, paint deal. Folks often have a hard time with the seat, however, so here's a quick visual on how I did it. Seriously, easy peasy. I mean, if I can do it, you can do it.

Figure out where the fabric will look best from the front, then flip it over.
(I also put a layer of batting under the fabric.)
Start by stapling the middle of each side - at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock - pulling taught but not too tight as you go.
(Too tight would mean bunching panty lines, if you know what I mean.)

 

Continue with the edges, then finally the corners.
Ah, the dreaded corners.
There are several ways to do this, but this time I stapled until there was a bunch of fabric leftover, then stapled that down...if that makes sense. You can also do it in a "gift" way or a 90-degree angle, stapling the other side over. Really, there's no wrong way as long as you can't tell from the front.

Here's the finished look from underneath.
Hot mess, right?
That's okay, no one will see it.
*wink*
It's just between us.

Tada! Nice and taught.

Sorry for such a harsh shot. Blame it on the atrocious red dining room. Or the blogger. Either works.

There, that's a little better. Dappled sun and all.

Aaaand...a gratuitous cute shot. Winston couldn't allow a camera to go off without his getting in the shot, and apparently Hadley thought Winston could use a kiss at that very moment. #summerblogging #winstondoeslikehim #noreally

Notice that purdy, purdy fabric? And the birds? See? I finally jumped on the birdie bandwagon (two years after it died, it seems). And to think, I finally got some chevron, and it's on the baby's sheets. He's cooler than Mama.

Whatchya think? Does it work? Oh, and it now lives in our front porch. I'd love to put it in the living room, but I need a comfier "Mom needs a moment" armchair. Especially since the current one has a shredded-to-pieces slipcover (Thank. You. Cats.) which I'm pretty sure has gotten through to the chair underneath. Madness, I tell you.


***Linking up with That DIY Party, Furniture Feature Fridays @ Miss Mustard Seed & Thrifty Decor Chick's August Before and After.***