Sunday, March 27, 2011

Can I upholster?? NOOOOO

I got 2 of these chairs off Craigslist about a year ago.. My plan was to upholster but after reading several blogs and watching lots of u tube tutorials I decided that just was'nt my thing.. But , I loved their shape and $50.00 for 2 it was worth the risk I was about to take.
Found another picture this morning-- wooohooo.. I thought I had lost them all..
here's how both chairs looked sitting beside the fireplace..

I'm joining Susan for Meta Monday..
Go see her other Posters- you wont be disappointed.

also joining Kim's party
Kim's Party

 This was the photo on CL- and unfortunately its the only one I have.   My computer went kaflooie a few months later so~~ 1 before and 1 after is all I have.. I got a bit of chair number 2 in the photo at least..
I wanted to keep these but I just could;nt handle the mauve and blue flowers on a yellow background.. So if I was going to have them in my living room a major change was in order..I sure couldnt use them the way they were....
  Enter ~~Kilz primer.. yes , you read that right- Kilz lol.. You see I decided to do them one morning about 5 am when all the stores were closed but I could'nt sleep..    I taped off the arms and legs which were in a very nice cherry mahogeny stain and great condition.   The priming began and it took me about an hour to do both chairs.. The primer raised some of the fibers so a little light sanding with fine sandpaper was needed..
I decided primer coat number 2 was gonna be necessary so I did that later in the afternoon. I planned to let them dry till the next morning but you know how Life gets in the way of your best plans, right?
  So 2 weeks later- again, early in the morning I decided the paint them.  Of course, I had'nt gone and gotten any paint which meant I had two choices. SW kitchen cab paint-- nah, too thick,, and Behr soft white satin..  I went with the behr..  It only took one coat to look fabulous. All the nubs had laid down because of the primer and sanding in between and the paint went on smooth as silk- umm I mean-- Satin:)
  I loved the way they looked and took several photo of them on either side of the fireplace.. As I said at the beginning of this post- I lost all but 1 of those pictures..
I think it turned out beautifully and sitting in it didnt hurt it a bit.. I kept them 6 months and sold them to a friend of mine for - well lets just say-- a Profit:)   She's used them since and they still look just like they did when I painted them...
I added a little snippet of the original on the bottom right..
Really - it was easy .. 2 coats of primer- sand in between and 1 or 2 coats of paint- whichever you prefer.
 Let dry before using about 72 hours in a warm room without humidity.. Easy Peasy and oh so pretty..
So now, you folks that cant upholster= take heart-- you too can tranform your chairs..
I plan to try a loveseat soon.. Might even try stenciling on it once the paint is dry..
*****************************
 While you're here I hope you go an visit a good friend of mine.   She'd love to have some followers and I'm sure she'd return the favor.. Helen is a real sweetie and I am proud to call her my friend..So please go pay her a visit.. She's love some company:)

http://www.helensdecor.com/
**************************
 I appreciate your visit and hope you come stop by often.. It sure would be mightly lonely here without ya..
Hugs and All good things to each and everyone of You~!
Sonny