sweet townhome: Birthday Chair

So after my first reupholstry adventure, I knew I'd be up for tackling another project along the same lines. I wasn't sure would that would be, but after I realized how enamored my sister was with my chair and ottoman (..."Can I just have it, Mad? I'll pay you." My response, "You couldn't afford it."), it seemed like giving her a chair of her own for her upcoming birthday would be a great idea.

The problem was, I couldn't find a chair. I spent four weeks of garage sailing to try and find the perfect one. It may not have taken as long if I hadn't all ready had a solid idea in my mind of what I wanted, but I did. My sister had just moved into a new pace with her boyfriend, and I knew what style she was decorating with ("pink"), so I definitely wanted to match that.

So after a month of searching without any luck (and getting very frustrated!), we only had a week left to her birthday. I told Tris I'd go to the flea market that morning (sidebar: the flea market by my house is dumpy and never has anything good, but it's close so, y'know), and if I didn't find anything, then I'd give up and buy her a gift.

Well, it must have been my lucky day, because I finally found what I was looking for! I took this chair home for a whopping $7 (I realized later that I should have tried to haggle down to $5, seeing as the seat wasn't attached at all, but oh well).

After the seat popped off (well "fell off" really), I got to work, starting with a little sanding before the painting. I totally should've primed it first, because it ended up taking way more pink that expected, but I only had a day to get it done, so I didn't feel like running out to buy more primer.

I used Rustoleum in Berry Pink.

image source via Amazon

It's a good color. Perfect for the pink/black/white color scheme my sister was using in her "fashion room."

Then I pinked up some fuzzy houndstooth fabric from Hancock fabric (with a coupon!) and some screws form Ace (to actually attach the seat this time), broke up my staple gun, and finished it up.

Not bad, eh? I love the way it turned out. I also realized that upholstering a smaller seat is much easier than a whole chair. I had no problem keeping the 'lines' in the fabric completely parallel to the chair itself.

How about a little side by side action? It's crazy how much a little paint can make a big difference. It still blows my mind.