https://ambientwares.com/4434/nautical-chair-makeover-clever-storage-ideas/
If you’re looking for a great chair project, have I got one for you. Heck, I’ve got this chair idea, this simple chair makeover, and this chair project (I’m still not happy with it) but, will tackle again one day. I’ve only been getting better especially at reupholstering. Just like most of my diy projects, I have no idea what the plan is until I’m in the thick of it. Can you relate?
I found this chair at the thrift store and according to my immaculate records (kidding), I spent $5. It honestly wasn’t in horrendous shape but, I thought I could make it a stool for in front of the couch. Spoiler alert: it’s too tall for the couch. Sure, if you need to get blood back to your head then by all means, put it by the couch. If you’d rather watch TV without your mammoth feet in the way, I wouldn’t suggest it.
You see, I didn’t bother to measure. I found out while I was happily skipping with my new foot stool, snug in my arms and placed it in front of the couch when my smile slowly turned into a confused frown. Dammit. I didn’t measure. Oh well, it has another spot in the house now.
In the never ending quest to create furniture and other home decor items that are both functional and/or space saving, I broke down this little old chair. I at least had an idea of doing the same thing I did to this awesome chair makeover.
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I’ve had this for at least a couple years and looking at the picture, it doesn’t even look that bad. When I first bought it, I was eager to refinish it so I removed the seat and took off the leather. Fast forward a couple years and I saw the back of the chair was losing it’s veneer. Gah, I guess I’ll just saw the back off and focus on removing the veneer another time for another project. This is how I think. Is that bad?
If you’ve never used a jigsaw before, it can be a little bouncy so you just to make sure you’re holding it steady and moving it slowly. Let the blade do most of the work. I used our jigsaw to slice the back off and I tried to stay as straight as possible to get an even cut.
This one is straight across.
This one not so much.
I moved onto priming using B-I-N. I swear by this brand now as I’ve had other issues with bleedthrough using other primers. I did 1 coat. If you do purchase, know that it is extremely runny and needs to be cleaned with either denatured alcohol or ammonia.
I then used the most awful looking piece of scrap wood as the bottom of the storage compartment. It was my spray painting spot where I put small objects on it.
In measuring the bottom of the chair, I went a different route than I did with my first chair repurpose with added storage. Instead of placing it within the chair, up against the 4 corner pieces (where the screws go to hold the cushion), I measured it to fit almost all the way to the edges.