https://makelyhome.com/31-days-to-an-eclectic-home-day-30-rehabbing-a-tired-chair/

Today is Day 30 of a 31 day series on creating and cultivating an eclectic home. For some crazy reason, I have accepted The Nester’s challenge to write on the same theme every day for the month of October. This may end up killing me. Or you. But, I appreciate you reading and welcome your comments.

Not too long ago, I assigned some homework to you guys. I wanted you to find a chair to rehab so you could bring some great color into a room in your home. As far as I’m concerned, a piece of painted furniture is one of the easiest yet most substantial changes you can make when you are aching for some color.

I, too, found a tired chair. She was thrown in the corner of a little shop here in town, with several other items stacked on top of her. She needed to be rescued.

Oh, the poor little chair. She had so much potential, but she desperately needed a makeover. Over the course of just a few days, she found a new life and now adds a fun touch to my bedroom.

How to Rehab a Tired Upholstered Seat Chair

  1. I began by removing the yucky upholestry from the chair. I didn’t worry about pulling out the upholestry staples. I just used my scissors and cut off the top layer of fabric and the batting. This revealed an original layer of fabric (this chair was being made over for at least the 3rd time), and I just left that one in place.

The dust cover on the bottom was also ripped, so I removed it the same way. If it had been in good shape, I would have just left it alone.

  1. Next, I sanded the wooden frame of the chair to remove the shine and years of grime. I sanded with a 150 grit and then a 220 grit sandpaper. I wiped the chair down with a wet cloth between each sandpaper grit and when I was finished.

In order to prep the chair for painting, I used ScotchBlue painter’s tape to tape off the fabric around the frame. This isn’t absolutely necessarily, but I didn’t want to get a lot of paint on the fabric I was leaving on the chair.

  1. I primed the wooden frame of the chair with Kilz primer and a Purdy paint brush. I prefer to prime wooden pieces with a brush or roller instead of using a can of spray primer. It’s a personal preference, but I think the finish is much smoother when done by hand.

  1. I had some of the yellow paint left over from my dresser rehab, and I used it to paint the chair frame once the primer was dry. Again, I just used a paintbrush.

  2. I decided that the chair needed a little depth so I {surprise! surprise!} glazed the detailing with my favorite Ralph Lauren glaze tinted to Black Silk. I used a cheap chip brush (not my Purdys!) and dabbed the glaze into the detailing. I worked a section at a time dabbing, wiping with a wet cloth, wiping gently with a dry cloth, and wiping only what I wanted removed with another wet cloth. Once you have the technique down, glazing is quick and easy (although I was really scared the first time I ever attempted it).

When the glaze was dry, I added 2 coats of glossy Minwax Wipe-On poly.