Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Desk chair revamp

I picked up this little office-style chair one day at a thrift store. It was stashed way up high in a pile of other chairs, but it immediately stood out among them. The lines are so clean and modern, yet it still has a vintage quality about it that I love. It's quite a departure from the curvy chairs with turned spindles that usually grab my attention.


I've been wanting a new desk chair, so I thought this could be a good candidate.

Since the finish was in pretty good condition, I decided to forgo painting this time and just focus on the seat.
Ohhhh, the seat.

The outside layer of fabric was pretty gross, but it was nothing compared to what was under that.

There was a layer of disintegrating foam, then another layer of yucky fabric wrapped around a warped plywood base. I used the old base as a template to make a new one.

Then I used my new wooden base as a template for some new foam.

A thick layer of spray adhesive applied to the wood keeps the foam from sliding around on it while it gets worked on.

Some Dacron (or in this case, quilt batting) smooths out the edges of the foam.

I couldn't find a big enough piece of fabric in my stash that I really loved, so I thought I'd try to make my own. It was inspired by a table runner I made a while back.

I positioned the fabric on the foam how I wanted it, then held it in place with some upholstery pins.

Staple, staple, pull, tug, staple, smooth, staple...

Some black dust cloth to make it a little nicer looking...

And that's it!

My stripe looks a little crooked, though. Just goes to show, sometimes even being careful doesn't produce perfection.





Ah, well. I like my new desk chair.
It's perty.

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