DIY 101: Recovering a Chair

Let's start at the very beginning- a very good place to start.  When you read you begin with A B C, when you DIY you begin with... recovering a dining chair.

I know I often do more involved DIY's but sometimes I forget to share the basics.  So I figured let's start with DIY 101.

Recovering a chair can seem intimidating to start off, but once you realize how easy it is to recover the seat, you'll want to keep doing it!  Maybe that's the root of my chair addiction.  As you can probably guess with this chair, I've already attacked it with a vibrant blue spray paint.  No matter what color the frame, however, that orange velour seat would need to go.  Far away.

First you need to remove the seat.  Normally it's held on with a few screws from under the chair.

Once your seat is free, go ahead and grab pliers and a flat-head screwdriver and start prying out the old staples.  If your seat is in decent condition and the cushion is still adequate, you can always skip this and cover right over the old fabric.  If that's the case, skip down to the fabric step.

You'll need to take the staples out to free both the fabric and the underlying foam.  I promise, this is the most tedious part, so if you can make it through this- you got it!

Now for the fun part- putting it all back together!

I used 2 layers of dacron batting for my cushion.  If you want something squishier, you can use a layer of 1" foam with a layer of batting over it to smooth it.

Start by stapling the top, bottom and 2 sides about 1" in from the edge.

After stapling the 4 sides, go ahead and staple all the way around and trim the excess batting.

Next you'll need to position your cushion on the back of your fabric.  Make sure if you have a directional pattern like a geometric or stripe, that you have the pattern oriented as you'd like to see it on the chair.

Now, with the fabric, you'll want to first staple the 4 sides as before.  Staple in just a bit from where you stapled the foam so that the fabric will cover it.

Once you have the sides stapled, work inward from each staple.  You want to make sure not to pull the fabric tight otherwise you'll see the stretching.  Instead, use your full hand to smooth the fabric tight like so.

Create pleats in your fabric as necessary as you go.  You won't see these on the finished product, but it will help your pattern sit properly.

Continue this all the way around until your entire seat is stapled.

Once the stapling is set, trim your fabric at least a half inch from the staples- any closer and your fabric may fray.

Once trimmed, you get to turn the cushion back over an admire your handy-work.

Reattach it to the chair and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

See, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Now you're ready to give your dining room a whole new look!

Revived Luggage Rack

On Monday I showed you the "before" a beaut of a luggage rack that was mid-makeover.  I was planning to fix it up to put out for sale at our tag sale this weekend, but a friend offered to adopt this little guy instead.  I hope she loves how he came out as much as I do!

I rescued it from an estate sale several years ago- I think it was $15.  I loved the shape and the potential history, I just couldn't let it end up in the trash.  But it did need some love.

In addition to obviously needing new ribbon and refreshed stain, the bottoms of the legs were coming apart and had some severe chipping.

Using wood glue, clamps, and wood filler, the legs were all patched up.

*tip* I prefer using Dap Plastic Wood to fill blemishes on stained pieces.  I tried both that and Minwax's Wood Filler (since I ran out of Plastic Wood mid-project) on this and I confirmed my previous ideas that the Dap is easier to work with and takes stain better.  It'll never act like real wood, but I've found this to be the closest.  Not sponsored, just wanted to share my experience.

Once everything was patched, I stained just the parts that had been patched so they'd blend more once I applied the final coat.

For the final coat I decided to try a new stain- Varithane Wood Stain.  There was mixed reviews online, but I found it to be exactly what I was hoping- thicker than regular stain, but not as annoying to work with as Polyshades (which acts more like a translucent paint).

Now for the fun part- putting the new ribbon on.

I used staples to secure the ribbon, knowing they'd be hidden when I folded the ribbon over and put on decorative brass nails.

Because they didn't go in 100%, I hammered them flat so that there would be no bumps when I folded the ribbon over them.

So, a little DIY admission here- this was my first time ever using decorative nails and it wasn't as easy as it looks. With the hardness of the wood I was working with, they did want to go in without bending.  After much trial and error, I ended up creating the holes with an awl first, then hammering in the nails the rest of the way.

I'm glad I made it work, because look at him now.  All nautical and sexy.

Just look at him in action!

Fun fact: the blue case is actually an accordion.  My dad's from when he was little that was rediscovered when cleaning out his Aunt's house a few years ago.  Priceless.

Grover REVEALED!

There isn't a whole bunch of instant gratification when flipping a house, but if you can wait almost 5 months oh man, satisfaction city!  Congrats on making it all the way with me! Week 18, AKA Grover's Big Day!!!

This might end up being my longest post probably ever, but guys, this house is kinda pretty now.  Just kinda.

Let's start outside.  Before he was very blah.  The garage door was demanding more attention than the front door and he just looked tired.

It's amazing what a few small changes can do to curb appeal.

Aside from the biggies of new roof and windows, the foundation, stairs, garage door, and front door got painted, shrubs got trimmed, flowers got planted, mulch got spread, and the lights and mailbox got upgraded.  Now the front door demands the attention it deserves and the entrance has presence.

The outside is nice and all, but the inside is where the WOW is.

From the second potential buyers step in the front door, I'm hoping to take their breath away.

Before... dark dark dark and closed in.

Now?

Oh and remember how there used to be a wall?

What wall?

And who didn't love the scallops..

Oh right, me.

The view from the sofa has changed a tiny bit.  This might be my favorite spot in the entire house.  Ok, tour over.  I'm just going to hang out here.  You don't need to see the kitchen or the rest of the house.

Ohhhh, fine, I guess I'll show you the rest.

This once sexy dark kitchen with beautiful yellow laminate counters, fake wood-over linoleum floors and a fan to hit your head on was hard to tear out.  And by 'hard to tear out' I mean it was a sledge hammer's dream.

I'll just let you take in the difference here.

Is it weird that my favorite thing in this room might just be those stools?  (yes, they are almost identical to the ones from Young House Love's last kitchen)  I scored them for a whopping $35 on craigslist and we've bonded.  Their style is PERFECT for this kitchen and adds just the right vintage touch.  Handy dad helped me trim down the legs so they could be counter height instead of bar height and you'd never know.

I'll admit- I am planning to do another layer of grout to smooth over a bit.  Even though unsanded grout was the right one to use for this size grout line, I'm finding that the first layer always looks a bit rough.  Maybe it's just my OCD talking, but I need to fix it a bit to be comfortable handing this house over to the next owners

Continuing down the hall, first stop is the bathroom.  This gem was a wow before, but in a bad way.

Now it sports new everything- tub, toilet, vanity, wall tile, floor tile, paneling.

The 3 bedrooms thankfully just needed lots of paint and floor refinishing.

The back bedroom:

Master bedroom/largest bedroom:

And the smallest bedroom:

Not that the basement underwent a HUGE transition, but you totally need to see these 2 spaces.

The neon seafoam garage received a new electrical panel, neutral paint, and a new, functioning garage door opener.

And the weird, creepy, paneled room that looked like it belonged in a bad 70s porno...

Now is totally refreshed and could be the perfect play room, media room, family room, etc.

I still have a few items left on my punch-list to get this house completely done.  I know this post started strong with the fancy areas of the house then moved on to the less exciting, so I'll leave you with my favorite shot of the new open concept and kitchen.  Isn't he charming now??

Remember how this is a flip house and I'm selling it now??  Well guess what- it's listed!!! I didn't share the MLS listing with you at the top so you didn't get distracted, but here it is!  Go buy him!  He needs a wonderful family to love and take care of him!