Reupholstering an Old Chair

I decided to look on Craig's List for my next project.

Amy felt she had enough little tables in her shop, Maison Decor, so I wanted to find a chair to redo.

I thought I had found something that wouldn't kill me to tackle.

I was wrong.....

I AM NOW DEAD!!!!!

And am writing this from beyond the grave....

(I'm gearing up for Halloween...)

This is what I saw in the Craig's List ad.....

But the seller stripped the fabric off after she took this picture, so by the time I drove out to pick up the chair, it was just the frame with all the staples and tacks still in place.

I like to be able to strip the chair myself.....

This way I can see how it was done, and it acts as somewhat of a tutorial about how to redo it.

It's always a good idea to take pictures as you strip a piece of furniture, because you'll believe that there is

NO WAY

you'll forget how it was done......

BUT YOU WILL!!!!!!!!

The seller told me she would email me the pictures she had taken when she stripped it.....

but she already had my money.....

AND SHE NEVER DID.....

So this is what I got.....

This was the way the springs looked.....

This is the way the frame looked.....

These are just some of the tacks I pulled out of this monster.....

So, without any pictures of the stripping process I was on my own.

NEVER MIND!!!!!

I have my buddies at Drape It 

(my drapery/upholstery workroom) 

(also some of my best friends)

for advice.

So I hauled the chair over there for a consultation with Gil 

their resident expert.

He is my guru.

I started by taking all the old ties off the springs.....

So, now it was stripped of all the tacks and ties.

IT WAS READY FOR IT'S NEW FINISH!!!!!

I began with a coat of French Linen.....

So the carved top went from this.....

To this.....

Here's the frame all painted with one coat....

THEN THE RED TANNIN STARTED BLEEDING THROUGH!!!!

So I had to go get some spray shellac to seal the frame.

At this point, I stood back and thought about how I wanted to place the fabric.

There were several options.

One way was the way it had been done, with the fabric wrapping around the legs.

I decided that I wanted the full leg post to show, so I had to fill in the nail holes from the previous upholstery job...

OK, at this point I went crazy with paint.

I was calling Amy every couple of hours telling her I had a paint compulsion and to come over to my house and take the paint away from me.....

The b@#$ didn't rescue me!!!!!

She's the one who sells me the chalk paint, so she was probably thinking...

"Yeah, paint the whole world Betsy with multiple coats!!!!!"

I painted Old White over the French Linen.

Then I painted a mix of Abtibes Green and Greek Blue over the Old White....

Then I painted a mix of Provence and Louis Blue over the green.....

Then I dry brushed French Linen over all that.....

Then I added some dry brushed Old White......

Then I sanded through some of the paint to show the different colors.

 Then I waxed it with natural wax, and then added some dark wax.....

You can see the different colors showing through..... 

I really like the way it looks on the carvings.....

I realize it's a very subtle effect, and I could have gotten away with just doing a dry brushing of Old White over French Linen.....

but I wanted to try a multi-colored layered effect.

So here is the frame all painted and ready for reupholstering.

I will continue this story with the re-upholstery on Tuesday.....

So, that's it for today....

Latah, Gatah

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