Monday, February 21, 2011

a needed makeover

About 18 months ago we got new dinning room chairs, after my kids broke several holes though our previous cane bottomed ones.  My husband and I debated for weeks about weather we should get new or used chairs.  My husband always likes to buy new, I always want to buy used.  I stress over new things, I would rather our kids add to the character of something used than to break in something new. I learned a long time ago not to surround yourself with things you don't want broken. 

I was thrilled to find used chairs that were sturdy, worked with our table and had cushions I could recover. The plan was to recover them right away, but I got busy and forgot about them. 

I finally got my act together and recovered them a couple weeks ago.

The previous fabric was awful.  The grayish tan stood out in our golden room, not to mention how little it did to hide the doings of our kids. I am so mad at myself for letting this go. 

It took less than 20 minutes to recover each chair and $35 for all the fabric. 

The change has been dramatic.

Do you have a simple project you've forgotten or you're putting off?
My house is full of them. I made a list when we first moved in, yet life went on and I got used to what I hate.  I'm really hoping to do more projects around the house this year, especially ones like this. 


18 comments:

April Westerhold said...

Yes! I have tons of things (paint, recover kitchen chairs, dust off and repaint baseboards, etc). All things that I could do in an afternoon but who has an afternoon?

The chairs look great!

april@Party of Five
http://www.westerhold.blogspot.com

Brittany said...

Looks awesome! And matches so well! I need to redo my chairs also but just can't find the time.

-Brittany
www.mommyscornerdiy.com

Unknown said...

Your chairs look beautiful! I'm so jealous I've been looking for a beautiful chair like this to recover, and am having the hardest time finding 1.

Charity said...

Are you kidding I thought I was the only one who "forgot" things like this. Right now I have a whole pile of picture that need to be hung, but I forget to ask Hubby to help me on the weekend and before I know it---it is Monday again.

You chairs are beautiful,
Cha Cha

Delia said...

It looks great! I kind of have a thing for chairs. Kind of a weird quirk about me. I adore the shape and structure of your chairs. You really found a great set.

Karri said...

Yes! My dining room chairs, too!!I've had the fabric for a year now. Yikes. I tried taking apart my chair just this weekend, but didn't get that far. I haven't figured it out!

Sweetaimee81 said...

we had to do the same thing don't forget to scotchgaurd the cusions :)

stephaniegiese said...

Yes! I have an antique gossip bench that I bought already re-done at a thrift store, but I need to re-redo it because the god-awful sunflower fabric on the seat cushion looks like it belongs on a 1997 Trapper Keep & not on a lovely piece of furniture. I have the fabric, but I just can't seem to get around to it. (Probably because I'm wasting time blogging, huh?) Thanks for the reminder! Your chairs looks very pretty & I love your rug!

Cole's Corner said...

oh yes... I have a ton of projects like that... I say while looking at my disgusting, stained, old, used, dining room chairs that need recovering.
Why do we wait and wait to do those things.
Hoping your post will inspire me to finish mine.
They look great!

Jess@craftiness is not optional said...

awesome chairs! I finally got mine done too but I need to get some pictures. Also need to paint my table! ah-that silly looong to do list!

Au Coeur said...

Great fabric! Yes, I have tons of those!! Only last week did I finally get around to a 20 minute hem job on a dress I had never been able to wear. It's funny how some things seem like such a task so they keep being put off until later...but when you actually do it, it seems like nothing.

Erin said...

your chairs look great! i agree with you about secondhand furniture! and yes, I have a million simple little projects that would only take a few minutes to a few hours to finish but there are just so many of them!

Leah said...

I have been wanting to strip the wallpaper in the master bathroom since we moved in 6 years ago! I visited a friend this past weekend and loved the mustard yellow color of her bathroom and it gave me the inspiration to do ours. Stripping will begin this weekend!!

Claire Meldrum said...

The chairs look great against those cheerful dining room walls. The day I don't have a simple little project I *could* do is probably the day after my obituary is published. There's always something - we lived in our previous house for nine years and a few months after we bought the place, we ripped out the quarter round while laying the new flooring. We had to move and sell the house before we actually got around to putting it back down. It took an hour (2 if you count the time it took me to paint it the day before!)

Claire

Jenn said...

I just featured you on my blog!

http://lebedafamily.blogspot.com/2011/02/craftify-it-birthday-theme-pictures.html

Jennifer

Katie Z said...

I love what you did with the chairs. I didn't see a tutorial.. or is it just basic knowledge? Where did you find your fabric? Once again your projects inspire me! Thank you!

Tiffany said...

Totally inspired me to get off my bum and recover my chairs, I even have the fabric.

Emily@ TheAntiPerfectionist said...

I love the way the fabric works in the room. Beautiful!

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