Back to Black: Reupholstered Chair for Great Room

Yes, I know. I've been on a bit of a revamped chair kick recently! While at St. Vincent De Paul last week, I spotted this lovely chair. It caught my eye with the cool bevels in the wood...and the ugly fabric of course! I decided to purchase the chair to refurbish for my Great Room. Thought it would be a lovely piece to add next to my fireplace and at only $10 it was hard to pass up!

So here's the before and after! Here's how I transformed this chair for less:

First stop, Hancock Fabrics. I love to check out the remnants section. At $4 a yard, you can't go wrong! So my Great Room features deep colors that can be found in most rooms of my house: deep reds, tans, olive green, and black. My match the decor, I opted for a traditional and posh pattern with those colors. I purchased one yard knowing that would be more than enough!

Next, I took apart the chair seat from the base. Just 4 screws held the chair together.



I washed the chair to get rid of all dust and grime. Then I primed with Zinsser 123 Bull's Eye white paint. I did two coats, allowing dry time in between each coat.



While waiting for the paint to dry, I decided to work on the seat cover. I first removed the old seat cover and all staples. I reused the padding underneath, just straightened out and made sure it was in good enough condition.



I measured, making sure the pattern was completely centered on the seat. I stapled into place, and often flipped the chair seat over to make sure everything was staying aligned and perfectly in place.



When the primer had set, I painted the chair base in Krylon's flat black spray paint. Normally I really don't like using Krylon. Yes, it's cheap, but I feel like I have to do more coats than Rustoleum which actually costs more in the long run. I finished  with a thin coat of Minwax polyurethane.

So again, here's the before and after!

Final costs for this project: $10 for the chair from St. Vincent De Paul, $4 for the yard of fabric from Hancock Fabrics, $4.50 for the Zinsser primer, $7 for the two cans of Krylon flat black spray paint. I had some Minwax already on hand so final cost was right around $25!

Refurbished Heart Shelf for My Little Lady

I spotted this country style heart shelf from Goodwill the other day for $6. While it’s not really my style, I thought a little paint could really transform this into a nice little accent piece for my daughter’s bedroom.

The shelf was in great condition for only $6. I really didn’t have to do any sanding since the surface was smooth and the wood was untreated. I just wiped off all the debris with a wet washcloth to prepare for my primer. This time I chose Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer which works great for all surfaces.

Once the primer was dry, I painted the heart shelf with two coats of Rustoleum semi gloss white spray paint. Since the shelf had so many niches, I found the spray paint was the smoothest coverage.



I love the way the white pops, but I thought adding some fabric behind the shelves would really set it off from her light blue walls.



While shopping at WalMart, I noticed they sell quarter singles, 18x22 inch pieces of fabric normally used for quilting. I thought this would be perfect since each quarter single is only $1.30. I picked up three colors, pink, olive green and blue.

I had to iron the fabric since it came folded and I didn’t want to see any creases behind the shelves.



Next I measured the space between the shelves so I could cut the fabric to fit. I added 2 inches to each side so I had plenty of room to attach to the wooden frame.

I used a staple gun to adhere the fabric, starting in one corner, then attached the opposite corner. Once the four corners were secure, I stapled all the way around the frame. I followed this suit with each shelf.



I finally got all of the fabric in place and secure. I flipped over the heart shelf and voilà! Beautiful smooth colored shelf liners that really pop from the painted white shelf!



I added a couple of my daughter’s trinkets for now until I find some little photo frames to show off some of her pictures through the years. I’m happy for now tough.



Final costs: $6 for the shelf from Goodwill, $4.50 for the Zinsser white spray paint primer, $3.50 for Rustoleum semi gloss white spray paint, $4 for the three fabric quarter singles. My total was $17 to transform the country heart shelf to a bright and colorful shelf for my daughter’s bedroom! Not too shabby.



But alas, I was shopping at JoAnn’s Fabric over Memorial Day and spotted this modern pattern for $2.99 a yard that perfectly goes with my daughter’s room. So I ripped off the old fabric and stapled on the new stuff! It only took me 10 minutes to fully change out and get back up on the wall. Man, I love the fact that I can change the heart shelf fabric backing out as often and easily as I change my mind :)

Painted Storage Chest for Entryway

One of my favorite recent finds at Goodwill was this walnut chest for $30. I’ve always been wanting something for the underneath our wall cutout between the great room and kitchen and thought this piece would be perfect, but wanted to switch it to black.



So here is the before... and after! Here’s how I transformed the piece:

Once I got it home, I removed all of the old brass hardware. I was thinking of switching it out to something new and modern, but thought a coat of metallic silver might be worth a shot since I really loved the current hardware. It was a little ornate and out of the ordinary! Luckily the metallic paint did the trick and I think it will really pop against the black.



Once I knew I was going to keep the current hardware and holes, I used a light grade of sandpaper to quickly run over the entire console to get rid of any bumps. I washed the entire piece with a towel and water to make sure no grime was leftover or dust from the sandpaper.

When it was all clean and dry, I lightly primed the chest with two coats of Krylon black primer and let it dry overnight.



The next day I coated the entire unit in Krylon flat black spray paint, including the inside shelf and the inside of the doors. Once it was done drying, I used Minwax satin polyurethane as a protective top coat to give it a little bit of a shine. I didn’t want it overly glossy, so the satin was a perfect fit. At first it seemed quite glossy, but once it dried and I wiped it down with a wet cloth, the paint really became subdued.



I put the shelf back in place and attached the hardware and moved it to my desired location in the foyer. Ah, so in love with the finished product! The satin finish fits perfectly with my current pieces in the room and the black really pops off the wall.

So again, here’s the before space and after!





So, total costs: $30 for the furniture from Goodwill, $8 for the two bottles of Krylon black primer, $7 for the two bottles of Krylon flat black spray paint, $5 for the Rustoleum metallic silver spray paint and $7 for the Minwax satin polyurethane. Total cost was $57 and some change, but of course I have some leftover paint as well to use for future projects. Love it :)

Updated Chair for my Kitchen Desk

The other evening the chair for our kitchen desk completely collapsed and broke while my little lady was playing at the computer. I had always been meaning to replace that old thing, but I guess now is a time as good as any.

I found this little wooden chair at Goodwill for $3. It’s in perfect condition, just needs a little love. I decided to try and paint it to match my newly purchased kitchen buffet.



The tools I need to try and accomplish this project: some black primer and spray paint by Krylon, Americana accent paint in gray, orange, red and white, plus a wire brush to give it the same old school effect as the kitchen buffet.

The chair seemed in pretty good condition so I didn’t need to sand it, just a quick buff with some light grade sanding paper so the paint adheres better. I wiped it down afterwards to make sure it was clean and ready. Next I painted the chair with black primer spray paint from Krylon. I only had to do one coat since the top coat would be black as well.



I let the primer dry for about 20 minutes then put on a finishing coat of black Krylon spots going around the spindles...I just had to keep reminding myself to take my time! I always use two coats as well, especially on something like a chair that will get a lot of wear and tear.

Once the second coat was dry, it was time to add the accent paint to the spindles. The kitchen buffet I recently purchased has bands of orange, red and gray, plus some thinner stripes of white so I tried to match as best I could with Americana acrylic paint from Michaels. I used a hard dry brush and lightly painted over the black spindles in designated areas. I tried to keep the brush as dry as possible to get the rustic effect to match the buffet.



To top everything off, I coated the chair with a light spray of satin polyurethane from Mirawax. This really seals in the paint, give the chair a protective cover, and adds a little bit of gloss to the final product.

Final costs: $3 for the chair from Goodwill, $3 for the Krylon primer, $3 for the Krylon black flat spray paint, $4 for the Americana paints, $.98 for two paintbrushes. I had some leftover satin polyurethane from a recent project, so my total bill was $14 and some change! Not too shabby for a new chair that matches my kitchen buffet.