Retro chair re-do

Before, take II

Before, take I

Chairs, like all furnishings, are freakin' expensive. I needed a smallish chair, and instead of paying $600 at RC Willey, I found this $60 one at a thrift shop in California. I don't really know why I like it, maybe because it's curvy and has a lot of real wood, which is hard to find in new furniture these days. The foam was in good shape, but the wood had this 1960s opaque-looking finish on it. The color was all wrong, and the fabric was hideous.

I sanded it down which was a huge pain in the butt. All those curves, surfaces. Argh, it took forever. I stained it a darker color, and used satin polyurethane for the finish. I think it updated it at least ten years. Ha. The first incarnation was recovered with what I thought would be a very worldly use of fabric-- a hot pink hammock I've been dragging around with me from Ecuador. It turned out that the fabric was just too thin, and you could see it puckering around the foam. I'm sure I could have added it to a base fabric of some sort, but by the time I'd sewn it and put it on and taken it off several times, it had already started to wear out in placed. I loved the hot-pinkness of it, but ended up going with something else. I will keep that fabric for pillows!!

After!

I found this very retro whitish-yellow circle print at the discount fabric store for yes, $5/yard. It is heavy, so hides the foam well. It was really easy to work with, and I think it goes well with the dark wood. I basically made two pillowcases for the cushions, and blammo, $70 chair! And my first upholstery project!