Craig's List Chair ReDo Part I

Remember the chairs that I got on Craig's List?  You can read about it here.  Last Friday I started working on, what I thought would be the easiest one to do first.  Boy, was I ever wrong!  The first hour I spent pulling out tacks, literally hundreds of tacks.  I also removed the webbing and springs.

Then I sanded and primed.  That was enough for one day.

I ended up removing the wood shown above as it wasn't original to the chair and I'm not sure why it was added.  My plan is to cut a piece of plywood to fit the bottom which will set on the seat frame, which I will apply foram and cover it with some pretty fabric.  Easier said than done.  I'm so naive.

I didn't get back to it until Sunday.  I painted the chair vintage gray by Valspar, which by the way was a free sample that I received in the mail.  Back in March Valspar was giving away 1500 samples per day for the entire month.  I was lucky enough to get in on it.

Today I worked on the re-upholstery part, which I have no experience with.  Thank god for YouTube.  I watched a lot of videos.  I did recover my craft room chair, but I wouldn't consider that re-upholstering.  That was just a matter of tucking.  Read about that here.  

I started with the back.  I glued some 1" foam onto a piece of plywood cut to size and then covered it with fabric.

I just used white glue for this part.

I laid it foam side down on the wrong side of the fabric.

Making sure to pull the fabric tight I stapled each side in the middle and then went back and added more staples to secure the fabric.  Notice how I left the corners.

I pulled the corners and made little gathers.  Sorry, it doesn't show up very well.  I used about three staples to hold in place.

Using the board that the hubs cut for the seat, I traced it out on the 2" foam and proceeded to dull a couple of knives cutting it out.

Using white glue once again I glued the foam to the seat.

I started to recover the seat and decided to call it a day.  I'll finish that tomorrow.  Oh, I also hand painted the fancy scroll work on the back of chair with black acrylic paint and a very tiny brush.  After that I sanded it down because I want it to look worn.

Anyway, that's what it looks like now.  Seriously, I thought 2 days tops!  I honestly think the other chair will be the easier one to do.................maybe.  Stay tuned for part II.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I have some exciting news that I'll be sharing with you sometime next week.  Here's a hint, it involves me, Price Chopper and a giveaway.  My first giveaway.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!