I get a kick out of watching those design shows that turn ratty old furniture into something new and fresh. Some day, I’d like to take an old dresser and re-paint/re-purpose it into an entertainment unit. The thought of it is a little intimidating, so I started small by reupholstering (seriously, it took me at least 3 minutes to figure out how to spell that word…re-apolster, re-apholester, reahpolester – I was so far off that the spell-checker didn’t even have any ‘suggestions’ for me…SMH) 2 wooden chairs that my mom and I found at Abe’s Orphaned Furniture in Elgin, IL. When we found this handsome pair of chairs on the 3rd floor of the antique furniture warehouse, we knew it had potential:
We got them both for $40. I like the clean lines and the cut-outs on the back. The wood wasn’t too bad and I kinda like the distressed look, so they made for a nice starter project where I didn’t need to sand or stain. I just wasn’t feelin’ the fabric, but knew that could easily be fixed. We picked out fabric that was fun, but still a little formal since I planned on keeping them in my living room.
We got a yard of fabric at Hobby Lobby for $7.99.
{Side note} I have an alter ego that comes out whenever I talk about or go to Hobby Lobby. They just opened one near my house, so every time I think about that place, I imagine little old ladies that go there to get all their crafting and scrap booking stuff. Anytime I go there, my alter ego comes out and I say, “Hey, I’m going to Hobby Lobby to get some stufffffff. I’ll be back…I just gotta get some stufffffff for my project” in a Kermit the Frog voice. I have know idea where this came from or why I started doing it, and I actually really like that store. Jeffrey understands my Hobby Lobbyist Persona and picked up on it, too. So if you run into us at Hobby Lobby and we’re talking funny and laughing hysterically, now you know why.
Jeff just popped off the cushions by unscrewing the nails underneath the cushion. I placed the cushions on top of the fabric and just cut around it’s shape – no measuring required! Then, we used a staple gun to secure the fabric about half an inch from the edge of the underside of the cushion right on top of the old stuff. It was so easy and quick that I didn’t even stop to take the “in-progress” pictures. It took us less than 20 minutes for both chairs. Here are the results of my first furniture re-do….drumroll please…..
OOOOOHHH they turned out really well! I couldn’t be happier with my first furniture re-do. I’m sure this set of “orphaned furniture” is happy to have a new home, too. 😉
I love it! I am going there on Friday…do they have other things besides furniture there? Lamps, DIshes, knick knacks?
Yes, they have tons of misc. items like lamps, dishes, and knick-knacks. Your best bet is in basement-level where it’s more of a flea market setting. Just want to warn you that it’s dusty and dirty in there with poor lighting. The gentlemen that work there are very nice and will quote you a price since they don’t always put price tags on the items. You’ll have to let me know how it goes and what you find!