Sweet little furniture makeover

Right, I'm back with the little project I hinted at in yesterday's post. I've had this stool for years, and thought it was about time I gave it some attention. When I first bought it, the frame was painted the most garish gold imaginable, complete with psychedelic fabric - the mind boggles at the thought of the house this little number came from! Anyway, I wasted no time stripping the trippy fabric off the cushion and painted the frame white. But that's as far as it went, and as this was way before I even knew what a blog was, I don't have any 'before' pics to share, more's the pity - it really was quite 'special'!

So when I was spray painting my kitchen cabinet doors, I decided to give a few other pieces the white treatment too. Here it is at frame stage:

The seat frame is timber, with webbing and hessian to support the cushion.

I could have replaced the webbing and hessian, but I didn't bother because a) it was still fine and b) the stool won't be getting much of a workout as anything other than a side table/resting spot in my daughter's bedroom. Also, by the time the hessian wears out, I'll be sick of the fabric, or the stool, or both, so then I'll replace everything and start again. I did vacuum it thoroughly and give it a wipe over with a damp cloth, to get rid of any dust. 

Next, I made a chair pad from some wadding, covered with a double layer of batting. You could go the purist route and make a pad from coconut fibre, but I chose not to bother. It pays to do it properly if you have an antique piece, but in this case it wasn't an issue.

Once you've made your chair pad, position your fabric and start stapling each side, working from the centre out to the edges. I trimmed the fabric as I went, making sure to keep the pattern in line, and folded the edges neatly. 

That's it! A quick and easy makeover, that really took no time at all.  There were, of course, a few things I learned along the way, and you may want to keep them in mind if you ever decided to tackle a project like this.

1. Choosing a geometric fabric like this one (Octagon canvas, from Spotlight ) is probably not the best idea for your first upholstery project! The reason being, any areas that aren't lined up perfectly will be glaringly obvious. I did need to unpick the fabric a few times, to make sure everything lined up properly. In hindsight, it would be easier to use an all-over pattern, without any straight lines.

2. The power stapler is your friend! We did have an electric stapler, which bit the dust about five minutes into my last upholstery project - recovering a two-seater sofa. This time around, I brought in the big gun. I used the compressor and power stapler attachment, and what a difference! No problems, plenty of power, and no fabric is too thick. Love it almost as much as my spray gun!

3. Make sure your chair pad is completely even in size shape, otherwise you have issues (see number 1 above!)

Ok, that's about it. I'm attempting to finish one of my other projects today, and I'll try very hard not to post any more teasers! I really can't help it though - I get all excited dreaming up new makeovers. TTFN!



all images by me 

By the way, this makover is also over at the link party at The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday. Go check it out, there are heaps of great DIY project and makeovers.