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I have been so excited to show you guys this project. It just took me a while to actually complete it. Like three months, a while.

I bought this chair at the thrift store for about $6. I thought it would be a good starter project for learning how to paint wooden furniture and recover cushions.


There was another one, too, with arms. I was so tempted. So tempted. But I held back. Baby steps. Because who knew how this one would turn out once I got my messy mitts on it.

I decided to paint it mustard yellow. Leftover paint from a bookshelf J was doing for me earlier this year (and which is still sitting at his warehouse waiting for its finishing coat. It'll be a great addition to my craft room!). I then hunted down a really nice print in mustard yellow from etsy to go over the cushion.

Here's a collage of the "during" process - including primer, fancy!:


Annnnnnd here's the finished piece:


I could not be more happy with the results! Granted, there are mad paint drips and I missed some spots on the undercarriage, but I think the fabric goes really well with the paint we already had. Plus, it goes well with my yellow pops in my slowly-but-surely-coming-along craft room.

Here's a breakdown of the total cost of the project:

{ chair } $6
{ fabric, 1 yard } $8
{ sanding block } $2.50*
{ Kilz primer, HUGE container } $15*
{ staple gun } $15*
{ staples } $10

*I already had two of these things so really I didn't have to pay for them again, but you can see that this project is totally affordable. The Kilz container is literally so big that we primed a few rooms with it. Definitely way more than what you need for a little chair like this. And you could probably get away with using a regular stapler, but I was having serious trouble. J and I had already bought a staple gun before but never bought the staples, so I bought those for this project.

Grand total: $56.50

Okay, so maybe that's a bit high for redoing a chair, but it looks exactly like I want and a lot of these items are reusable.

For my next project, I have an antique vanity bench with a similar upholstery to the original on this chair that I'm going to remove. I'll repaint the bench as well. I'm still trying to decide, though, what style to go for. I recently bought a modern grey print fabric from IKEA with the bench in mind, but I really like how this bright chair turned out and might want to stick with the bright style.

But then I think about how much I like how this chair turned out that I'm leaning toward matching the bench. I also have a huge antique wardrobe that I want to refinish in mustard as well, but I know that's going to be a HUGE project so I'm putting it off. Again, baby steps. I just have to remind myself of that.


"Baby steps" reminds me of What About Bob? Anyone else?