Monday, October 24, 2011

The Big Peach Chair - Upholstery 301

I picked up this chair a few months ago after a brief craigslist search between packing and moving.  Hubs was so excited that I got another chair for him to move.  Ha!  Anyway, isn't this a potential beauty?  I mean, back in 1988 when peach upholstery and marble painted wood was trendy this sucker was probably the bees knees.  

Here it is (mostly finished) painted with light gray chalk paint, distressed, with a taupe upholstery .  

Now I get to take you through the steps to how I got it this way.  And I will tell you what I would do differently so if you try, you won't make the same time-consuming mistakes.  

First I ripped off the upholstery.  Note: You should leave the old upholstery on until after you strip the paint.  It will make clean up a whole lot easier.  Learn from my mistake.


Check out this marble looking peach and lavender paint!

Until now I had only sanded to get paint off of wood so I wanted to try stripping.  I bought this stripper (I laugh every time I say that) at a local store.  You can find it at any home improvement store/Walmart-type store. 

I brushed it on and waited the suggested time and the paint started bubbling, which meant it was ready to strip.

So I got the scraper and scraped and scraped.  Then I decided that stripping is not fun and it is time consuming.  Two things that don't make me happy when doing a project.  When I got this far, I realized I like the look of the scraped off paint.

This is where the chalk paint came in.  I made a batch using this recipe and you don't need to sand or strip before using it.  However, I sanded the chair so that it would be smooth (the majority of the peach marble paint was still on the chair and it was flaky from stripping -- another thing for you to avoid) and I painted one coat of the chalk paint onto the chair.  It covered it wonderfully!  When it dried I sanded it to get the distressed look.  If you do this you will want to paint a clear coat of polyurethane to protect the wood.

Upholstery:
I know this is a bad picture, but it's meant to show you that you should use the old upholstery to make a pattern for the new.  It is so much easier that way.  
 When the pieces are cut out, staple them on with a staple gun.

You can trim it to fit after you've stapled it.

I can't tell you exactly what to do because each chair is different.  For this one I had to sew the bottom and staple it on.  I also had to sew the cover for the cushion.  If you are already good at sewing, you probably know how to do this but if not, I have learned that pinning is very very helpful.  

The last step is piping.  You can buy it at fabric stores and it is really inexpensive.  Measure the piping to fit the chair and cut out strips of upholstery.  Sew the material around the piping.

Cut excess material.

Hot glue the piping around the edges of the upholstery.

And there you go.  You have an upholstered chair with awesome paint (I know I missed that bottom part but I'll get to it).



Linking up at the great Linky parties found at the bottom of the blog.  They are where I find most of my inspiration!  Check them out!

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53 comments:

  1. The chair is definitely transformed. Lovely!

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  2. This looks so great!! I have upholstered dining chairs (not nearly as time consuming), but I have an awesome old crushed blue velvet wing back chair that's begging to be refreshed and updated. Thanks for the link to the chalk paint recipe! I am excited to try it (the premixed is SO expensive). Anyway, after this novel of a comment, what I wanted to say was great job!!! :)

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  3. Looks lovely!! Great chair makeover!
    shannonsews.blogspot.com

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  4. Just wonderful! I love this! I just finished my first chair project and I am in love! I love what a difference the fabric and paint make!
    Jaime

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  5. Wow, what an amazing transformation! I love how you've updated this arm chair. It sure is worth all the work coz the cushion looks comfy. Saying hello from Mod Mix Monday!
    -Marie

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  6. wow that turned out great...you make it look so easy but I know it is not easy to do it well like you did...CONGRATS on the outcome of your new-old chair

    - KAT -

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  7. What a beautiful chair. You did an awesome job. Found you on BNOTP's MM.

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  8. This is a beautiful chair! You did a great job :)!

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  9. Hi, Kelli

    I just love how your chair turned out. I am surprise it is not painted turquoise. : ) I have an old chair I have been putting off for a year. I will have to try to dig in and just do it. You chair is lovely, I enjoyed stopping by. Thank you for stopping by last week at www.homesweetbutterfly.com and for your kinds words.

    Have a great week.
    Vanessa

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  10. Your chair looks amazing! Reupholstering is no easy task that's for sure! Great Job!

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  11. It is gorgeous and What a great job. I have never tried upholstery and this one looks tricky. I might tackle my dining chairs which are much easier than yours. Well done.

    Veronica
    Tassels Twigs and Tastebuds

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  12. A great one can make any nook of your home come alive, and I love how my visitors always stop and look at my vignettes. That's when I know I've done it right =) Love the way you describe it as making waves, so true.

    devis terrasse

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  13. Looks SOOO much better! I haven't been brave enough to try piping yet, but you make it look so easy! Thanks for the detailed pics!

    Deborah ♥ (visiting happily from http://upcyclingmylife.blogspot.com/... hope you'll drop by and say hi!)

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  14. This chair makeover is so gorgeous! I love that fabric pattern and color that you chose!

    Stopping by from Type A

    lifewiththehawleys.blogspot.com

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  15. Great make over, love the new look of the chair! Laura Cottage and Broome

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  16. You did an awesome job on the chair!! Love it!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  17. Love this. It looks great! I love furniture redos!

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  18. Beautiful transformation! Love the pillow too!

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  19. Wow, you did a wonderful job!!! This looks gorgeous!
    I'm like you, always sand off paint and have wanted to try a stripper...after your experience though, it may just be more time consuming, especially as we don't have chalk paint in Australia so have to sand anyway!!
    Thanks for sharing this!!

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  20. You did a fantastic job!!

    Jenny
    www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

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  21. WOW! that is fabulous!!! it looks totally new!

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  22. OH PLEASE... cover up that last rung as quickly as possible! The marble paint technique on it is awful! The peach and marble... what can I say?!

    xoxo Bunny Jean
    Wednesday's Bunny Hop Party!

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  23. Your new chair looks very comfy. Thanks for the how to on piping, I needed that.

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  24. Looks really good--I am impressed with your reupholsterying! This chair looks really comfortable too!

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  25. I would be so afraid to tackle something like that, but you did a great job! Thank you for showing us the process... maybe I'll be brave one of these days! Your tutorial was actually very helpful ":o) Thank You!

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  26. Gorgeous!

    ♥Linsey
    http://farmhouseporch.blogspot.com/

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  27. Beautiful job! Thanks for linking to Wicked Awesome Wednesday!

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  28. Excellent job redoing this chair.

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  29. WOW! You did an amazing job on this.

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  30. omg brilliant job! i want it!

    visiting via SCC and would like to invite you over to my blog's shabby chic giveaway (3 will win!):

    http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/2011/10/rachel-ashwell-on-creating-authentic.html

    warmly.

    michele

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  31. Looks great! The distressing is perfect!

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  32. You did a great job with the upholstery and paint. I need to try the homemade version of chalk paint. I keep seeing it pop up.

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  33. Love this chair transformation. It looks beautiful. I need to find a beauty to redo.

    Ruth

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  34. Looks amazing! What a transformation. I found you through 2805 and I'm a new follower! I hope you'll follow me back, but no pressure :-) Have a great weekend!

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  35. Amazing transformation. I love it and it looks for comfortable! I followed you over from Somewhat Simple.

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  36. Looks great! Your hard work paid off!

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  37. I love it. You did a great job, and it looks so much better than before. Love finding diamonds in the rough like this one. Visiting from AD2D

    ps I host a linky party every Friday, I would love it if you could stop by and link up. Thanks!

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  38. Love your wing-back armchair. You certainly have done a beautiful job on the re-do. Looks gorgeous! I have joined your followers list and Pinterest and invite you to join my followers list; as well,I hope you will grab a blog button. Hugs, Gayle
    http://atastefultouch.blogspot.com

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  39. You did a wonderful job! It's a fantastic transformation! Thanks for linking your fabulous project to Potpourri Friday!

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  40. This was a pretty big undertaking but you handled it beautifully and the end result is spectacular. Kudos. Thanks so much for linking your stunning chair up to Motivated Monday at BeColorful
    Pam

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  41. You bought a stripper????!!! ; ) Had to laugh.....thank you so much for sharing this at the "Meet Me Monday" linky party! I know everyone is so happy to meet you! I can't wait to see more of what you have going on! Love, Me www.youaretalkingtoomuch.com

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  42. Love this. I have been looking for a chair to reupholster for my living room. Thanks for the how to.
    Sarah
    www.budgetfriendlydecorating.com

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  43. Awesome! I have a very similar style chair that's waiting to be done. You've inspired me :)

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  44. Such a great re-do, what a wonderful job!

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  45. Thank you for joining the Home Sweet Home party!
    Sherry

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  46. Nice I really like the chairs so cute. Thanks for posting. : )

    Upholstery and Vancouver Upholstery

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