Someones Trash, My Treasure

The basement in our home had a few goodies left behind by the previous owner. When I say "goodies" that's what they are to me. Maybe someone else would have thrown them out. This chair is one of a few pieces that will be getting updated. I removed the seat but decided to leave the vinyl cover that was already on it. It would be a good moisture barrier between the new fabric and the padding. I just wiped it down really good with some all purpose cleaner to remove dust and dirt.

I have seen a lot of furniture painted with chalk paint and had been itching to try it. With the expense of it though I was looking for an alternative and learned there are recipe's that show you how to make your own. This is the recipe I used and it turned out great! The best part is it gives amazing coverage and there is no sanding prior to applying it. I doubled the following recipe.

• 1 cup of latex paint
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons cool water
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons plaster of paris  (1 box is $6.98)

Other supplies
• glue gun
• staple gun
• fine grit sandpaper
• black pom trim
• fabric $2.97 yd.

Since there was some leftover paint from our 14 year old sons bedroom painting project that was sitting on a shelf in the basement I decided to use that. It's made by Sherwin Williams and the color is called Dorian Gray. I followed the recipe and whipped some up. The chair received 2 coats then some dry time.

After drying I lightly sanded over it to give it a little bit of a distressed look.

Black, white and gray paisley fabric was used to cover the seat. I found some for $2.97 a yard and it has a nice heavy weight to it. As you can see I used more fabric than was needed (quite a bit of extra on the back to staple down) That's okay, with more practice on future pieces my measurements will get better. And Yes! I am keeping my eyes open for that next piece that says, "take me home and give me a new look"

The seat was reattached and all that was left was to add a little flair to it.

Black pom trim seemed like it would finish the edges off nicely.(Please forgive my blurry photos,

 a camera upgrade will take care of that soon) I hot glued the trim around the edges and pretty much that was it.

I am really happy with the end result and even happier that it cost me just under $10.00 to do it. The plan was to have the chair on the front porch as part of my Fall display but it turned out so nice that its still in the house and a wicker chair and small side table went out there in its place. I will share what was done to those to breathe some new life in them in a later on.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Karen