Creating New from Old

I decided this year that I was not going to buy anything new. At every chance, I was going to buy something old or used and upcycle it to either go into my home or to sell. I stumbled upon three wood chairs for free and found them on the marketplace. My goal was to get them, upcycle them and then sell them. My sweetheart sees them and says he wants to repair and sand them for me. He now wants to keep them.

Had to use various sizes of rasp files to sand inside the little squares on the chair back

Originally the chairs were very well made. Over the years, several layers of paint had been added to them. The seats were loose or broken, and there is some water damage.

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  He took the chair completely apart

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  The seat of the chair

Sanding the chairs was a challenge. I do not know what type of paint was on the chairs. When sanding the chair, the paint came off looking like rubbery tar. We ended up buying a tool that made the whole job easy. It is a Ryobi Multi-Tool. You can change the tip, and saws, scraps, and a sander. I am sure there is more than I am aware of. We used the scrapping tool and it vibrates and pulls the stubborn paint right off.

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The chair seats were difficult to sand because during assembly they had been glued and screwed together. The glue was hard and was difficult to take off. This project, which I thought was going to be a simple project, turned into a huge project.

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  Multi tool peeling off paint

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  Sanding after peeling the paint off.

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  Part of the chair

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  chair being worked on

Taking the chair down to parts and sanding them was the best course of action. Now that the chairs are in pieces we filled in cracks and any small holes with wood fill every where needed. Now that I have painted the chair, which I love the color, I think I may add an antiquing gel to the chair to give it a more aged look.

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The paint that I used on the chair is paint and primer all in one. In Hindsight I did not check to see if the paint was outdoor paint. When I get all three chairs done, I will add a waterproofing solution to protect them from the weather. The chairs will not be out over the winter in the snow.

Vintage Dinning Room Chairs

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I am also recovering some vintage chairs for a client. This turned into a much larger job than I thought. The fabric was tacked to the chair frame. The volume of tack holes in the frame this was not the first time the chairs had been recovered. I must tell you, having the proper tools for the job is essential.

Tacks used in the chair covers

I used the old fabric to make a pattern for the new chair covers. I also added some batting to the seat to make it a bit more comfortable. In these chairs I left the burlap tacked to the chair. It was in surprisingly good condition. The new fabric, I used a staple gun to attach it to the wood frame of the seat.

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I have several projects lined up to do. I have more to blog about on this subject. I am always looking for interesting things to upcycle. If I can get them free it is great, but usually, I am going to garage sales, Goodwill, and Arc. I also inherit things from friends and family.

I look forward to sharing more ideas with you.

Roxanne