DONT WEAR IT SIT ON IT!

It's been a while since my last post, well actually a long while! I'm back with an adorable and thrifty way to recover your dining chairs.

Last year I visited family in Texas, and while I was there my daughter in law wanted to do a little makeover on her large dining room table and 8 chairs. With 5 kids under her belt, the table had some wear but that's always a good thing, it means that family is still managing to gather around the table in this complicated time we live in.

Everyone knows that a dining table is not just for eating. This particular  table has seen plenty of little feet with and without shoes on those chair cushions and some of those feet have become quite adult size!  Not to mention the moving , those kids moved that table and chairs among a zillion other things more in 3 years than any one I know, and thank the good Lord they are settled in now!

An executive decision was made, and my daughter in law and I decided to give it a go! I assured her that it would not be costly and being the queen of thrift ... I pretty much could guarantee it! 

After contemplating the dining room, we both decided that a couple of walls needed some help too, so we decided to add a burst of raspberry to a couple of walls, and I am talking raspberry's blended with a touch of cream  and  poured over cheese cake so smooth and creamy not to mention  happy and oh so  bright! What a mood lifter! Of course that would have to wait until later.

 We gave the table top an up doo too.  We stayed with the original color which was black and added a shine and good top coat..... just in case .

Then.... the fun began! Fabric hunting!

My daughter in law quickly questioned me on...........

What colors?

What patterns?

Where do you start?

Shirts?

Skirts?

Floral?

Stripe?

Hounds tooth?

Vintage?

Modern?

What to do! 

I told her it would all come together as we started the hunt... and that is exactly what we did.

She took me to a super cool thrift store that was huge and had a ton of clothing, both vintage and modern. We had the overall colors in mind (black, grey, raspberry, yellow, gold, purple, and green give or take a few more...)  and  we just started on opposite ends and grabbed some clothes.

NOTE:

Its important to make sure you know the measurement of your chair seat, and that you find clothing that will give you plenty of fabric for  for folding under the seat to staple.

 Also bear in mind that stretchy and hardy fabrics are great to choose from. I am not saying that you can't do a chair or two in something you absolutely love that is neither of the above, But it just makes your life easier to choose wisely. After all that hard work, you don't want your cushions looking like crap after a few months. If your fortunate to find a blanket or curtain or bedding that is perfect ... I would say .... SCORE!  

This is always more fun to do with someone you like....   and trust... their taste that is.

Once we gathered a bunch of clothing and when I say that, I mean once there was no room for a single shirt left in the cart, we looked at the textures, colors, and designs and started putting together our theme. Keeping some and discarding others, now this did not happen in 5 minutes. It takes time and trial and error, but don't get discouraged a plan always comes through! She had alot of chairs so that gave her the option of diversity, which is exactly what she chose. Truthfully.... we went back a couple of times.But once she decided on eclectic I ran with it!

We disassembled the chairs with the help of my Son who proved to be quite handy with the screwdriver. In fact he was so precise in speed and agility,we had to question if he wasn't moon lighting as a furniture builder. He was so fast we hired him to put the chairs back together! 

Once the seats and upper parts of the chairs were off we marked them so we wouldn't mix up the chairs with the seats and then we removed the old fabric and staples.

I could see the apprehension in Tawny's eyes as she grabbed her marker and scissors eagerly awaiting instruction. This was after all, her maiden voyage into the world of sewing ... well more like upholstering.

We laid out our chosen decor piece by piece and picked the very first fabric to start... I believe it was the floral skirt but I cant remember now.

We placed the seat onto the first piece of clothing and situated it in line with the best part of the pattern. This is what you will want to do if the pattern is geometric striped or has a multiple of designs in different angles on the clothing.  You would be surprised how just an angle of the fabric can change a look once it's on the cushion.

We traced it  and then cut it out leaving about a good 5 inches all the way around for tucking under and stapling ( this is why when you are picking out your clothes you want to allow for that 5 to 6 inch excess).  We pulled the fabric  tight on each corner first and she put the first few stables in. We just worked our way around pulling the fabric tight and making sure there were no pleats, unless you want pleats but that's a whole different blog. So its more like Pull a corner and staple, pull the opposite corner tight and staple then the 3rd corner and then the 4th corner then you just work the in between fabric till you have it all stapled !

My photos are not necessarily in order all the time that would explain how the raspberry cushion instantly turned into the floral cushion below, I would like to say I was that fast, but ..... I'm just not. 

My oldest granddaughter tried her hand at the job, well when she wasn't photo bombing that is.....

Didn't she do a great job?

She looked like she couldn't believe she actually did it!

And she is a natural it turned out great!

 Tawny turned into an upholstering monster, she just could not get them done fast enough. 

 We would stand back  and marvel at the beauty of each one done,... just for a minute or two before contemplating the next one. I think we may have beckoned a neighbor or two well maybe just a neighbor, I don't think they knew that many then. Did I  mention the snapshots with my phone camera  to send to all her sisters?

One by one they all got done, and what a difference!

The Table looks beautiful!

And even more beautiful once the Raspberry wall joined the party!

I am sorry that I don't have a before photo ..... but trust me, this was quite the redo!

 You know what the  best part of doing this is? Well maybe not the best part..... that was spending time with all my beautiful kids in Texas , so the next best part would be receiving the photos of Tawny's projects she took on .....after I came home, She is well on her way to becoming an independent house designer! And that quite frankly is what I aspire all women to be!

Happy  Remodeling Ladies even if it is just a shirt to a seat!