The Makeover

I needed a chair. My first thought was not "Where could I buy a chair?" but rather "Where can I get a free chair that will end up looking exactly like the one I want?" I know, I know. At this point you are asking "Why does this girl make her life so much more difficult than it needs to be?" I am a glutton for punishment. This is where the story begins.

This is the very old chair I found in my Mother-in-Law's basement. (Read FREE)

It was chipped.

It was stained.

And it was covered in many layers of very old paint.

First thing I did was pop out that nasty seat cover.

Then I got this bad boy out of John's tool chest. 

In all honesty this scraper was just about as useful as the power tool. But the power tool was much more fun. :)

I believe in cheap labor.

Here she is after some serious elbow grease was put into her.

At this point you might be thinking "Does this woman not worry about exposure to lead paint?!?!" I do! But I was pretty far into the project before I really realized what I was dealing with. And lest you all think I am a terrible mother - Emma had that sandpaper in her hand for no more than 2 minutes. Most of my sanding was done alone, after bedtime, while John watched SportsCenter. 

The chair still looked pretty miserable after 1 coat of P22 Benjamin Moore "Ruby Red" high gloss paint. To be honest, I almost gave up at this point. But I am not a quitter so I added coat 2 and coat 3. And Voila! 

The chair had been reborn! Much better, right? If you are wondering what happened to that VERY dirty seat cushion, wonder no further. 

I stripped off the material, threw away the batting, and kept the raw piece of wood that was underneath it all. I cut a nice big piece of foam (purchased at Michael's) to fit the square and folded a lovely piece of off-white fabric around the foam, using my kick-ass staple gun to secure it in place. I have since learned that batting would have helped to round out the edges, but I am a beginner and that kind of detail will be used on my second makeover project. 

And WHERE do I use this glamorous chair? In my teeny tiny little office in the corner of our guest room. And WHY do I use said office? I feel I must to justify the CB2 acrylic table I bought and the chair that took me no less than 15 hours to makeover. Take that Martha Stewart!