Repurposed chair

Feeling a little fallish today! I had the afternoon off so I took advantage of it by bustin out some fall decor.

My mother-in-law let me search her basement for furniture and I found some great chairs. So out came the paint, sandpaper, and fabric and we had a couple new chairs!

Here's what we did with them:

ugly old to vintage old

My husband and I inherited a lot of furniture when we first got married. We were so thankful that we didn’t have to spend a ton of money that it never bothered me that they weren’t exactly-how do I put this nicely, modern? Needless to say there were a little outdated. Our biggest offender resided in our bedroom. For about a year I didn’t let it bother me, we couldn’t afford to buy a whole new bedroom set so these would have to do.

Then came pinterest- the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to my crafty brain. All these pictures of beautiful vintage white furniture filled my wishful home board, emphasis on the wishful. But again, just wasn’t in the budget. Then my sister decided to get married (yay!). For her ceremony decorations we painted a few old doors and they looked amazing – and as the sister of the bride, I got to keep one!

Thus my inspiration for our bedroom makeover. So here is the tutorial for how I took my ugly old bedroom set to a vintage set. I’m sure there are professional techniques that are probably better but I didn’t want to deal with staining and stripping.

What you’ll need:

·         Paint – I used Better Holmes and Garden interior flat. I did two colors because I wanted the yellow to show through under the cream when sanding but that’s up to you.

·         Paint brush

·         Sand paper

Step 1: Clear out the area. Especially if doing a dresser. I learned this the hard way, it’s easier to just get everything out of the way first instead of realizing you can’t paint around everything while already painting.

Step 2: Start painting with your first color. This coat doesn’t have to be perfect. You’ll be covering it with another color so don’t feel like you have to be picky, plus you’ll be sanding.

Step 3: After first color has dried completely, and I really do mean completely, start with second color. You’ll want to be a little neater with this coat because it will be seen, however, once you sand, imperfect painting pretty much goes away.

*Remember that if it’s old furniture, there are going to be dings and dents. Make sure to cover these with at least one of your colors. You want the piece to look vintage but you also want it to look purposeful. Too many random dents will look funny.

Step 4: Wait for second coat to dry, again, completely. Start sanding! Pay special attention to and grooves or edges. This will give your piece character. How much you want sanded is kinda up to you. The more worn you want it to look, the more sanding you have to do. To achieve an overall vintage look, make sure to rub the sandpaper across the entire piece – even if you want that area to remain your second color. This will give the whole thing a worn look.

And that’s it! Wipe off the dust and you’ve got an updated piece of furniture. For an even more dramatic transformation, add new hinges and knobs. I’m still in search for the perfect ones to replace ours but when I find them, I’ll be sure to let you know!

Dresser - new hinges to come!

About the Blog

I'm a wife who loves to decorate and create. Sometimes redoing a room a few times a year isn't the cheapest thing to do so I'm all about doing it yourself. From reupholstering to painting and everything in between there's no project that can't be done. 

10 easy steps to turn an old frame into a canvas

Whether you're looking to use up some old frames, wanting a couple more canvases, or just needing a new project, anyone can do this. 

What you'll need:

• Old frame - preferably one with a flat surface
• Loose canvas* or material 
• Scissors 
• Staple gun
• Extra Stables 

*If you are going to be painting, be sure to use canvas. Otherwise any decorative material can be used. 

Step 1. Lay canvas out flat and place the frame in the middle. You will be looking at the backside of your frame. 

Step 2. Pull fabric over side of frame and staple in place. 

Step 3. Repeat on opposite side of frame stretching the fabric has tight as you can. The tighter it is the better it will look when you are done. Continue going back and forth from side to side until two sides are done. Keep each staple equally taught. 

Step 4. Repeat step 3 on other sides. 

Your frame should now look like this:

Step 5.Decide which side of the frame you want your fold to show. Pull corner straight (like the corner of a bed sheet). 

Step 6. Tuck extra fabric behind fold.

Step 7. Pull up on corner creating an even fold. 

Step 8. Pull as tight as possible and staple in place. 

Step 9. Repeat on all corners. 

Step 10. Trim off extra fabric.

Finished!