If you have the DIY bug, then you're familiar with the appeal of those dilapidated, lost looking chairs found in garages, thrift stores, and curbs everywhere. Instead of purchasing a new chair, find one with good bones that needs a little TLC, and give it a new life. With a little elbow grease and our listings of local fabric and paint stores, you'll be able to turn a $5 (or free!) find into a beloved home project. All kinds of wood furniture--tables, dressers, desks--can be painted and revitalized with these tips and resources.
We've got your local coupons, too, to help inspire a project.
Recovering with natural fabrics
Making over chair cushions is the easiest project, creating little mess and requiring nothing more than a screwdriver, staple gun, and new fabric. Look for chairs with bottoms held by screws or light glue. Unscrew and pull the cushion off, then place it on your new fabric and trace the shape, adding an extra 1’ to 2' allowance depending on the height of the chair cushion. Cut the shape out, (trace copies if you have additional chairs) wrap the fabric around the cushion right side up, and use a staple gun to staple the fabric flat around the underside, periodically checking that the fabric is aligned and flat on top. Reattach the seat with the screws, and voila! Use organic cotton, natural wool, or natural fiber fabrics such as hemp.
Fabric and accoutrement coupons:
Article Pract ($10 OFF),
Global Exchange (15% OFF),
East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse (25% OFF).
Painting with zero-VOC paint
For chairs in need of a dramatic makeover, a paint job will bring out pretty wood details and can match the furniture to your home decor. Depending on the amount of old paint or varnish, a quick sanding may be all the prep you need. Repaint with low or zero-VOC paint, which doesn't off-gas and pollute indoor air quality.
Paint coupons:
Ecohome Improvement ($5 OFF),
Berkeley Ace Hardware ($5 OFF), Grand Lake Ace Hardware ($5 OFF),
Laurel Ace Hardware ($5 OFF).
Need inspiration? There's no better place than the blog
Design*Sponge. The Before and After category features daily updates of reader submitted projects and adventures in reupholstering, repainting, and full blown home remodeling. This listing on
Chair Love will get you started.
Image: Screenshot, Design*Sponge
Soy based foam for reupholstery
The full start to finish revamping of the black and white chair pictured above is viewable on the Flickr set called
Adventures in Reupholstery. If you're up for the job of a reupholstery project, or if you have someone else do the work, ask for soy based foam instead of petroleum based foam and reuse vintage buttons or trinkets from a scrap store.
Antique and new furniture coupons:
The Futon Shop ($50 OFF),
Rockridge Home (20% OFF),
The Urban Green (20% OFF),
Waterlilies (25% OFF),
Uhuru Furntiture & Collectibles (20% OFF),
Urban Ore Ecopark (10% OFF).
Good luck and happy crafting! If you use one of our local stores, please send a picture of your project to
editor@ecometro.com with a description of the environmental fabrics or paints you selected and where you shopped.
More Resources
Tips on stripping chairs, from Apartment Therapy
Creating crosshatching or distressed designs with paint, from Martha Stewart
Recovering usable bentwood chairs, or deconstructing unusable chairs to make tables, beds, and more