Have you ever spotted, or even purchased, an old chair in need of a refresh. You may have seen the potential and envisioned what it would look like with some fresh paint and new fabric. But you put the chair out of mind or in a corner of the basement because you weren’t sure what to do next. Sometimes the fear of “ruining” a piece is enough to forever put off proceeding with such a project. Well, I want you to know that with a small amount of preparation you can easily transform a tired old chair. In this post, Easy Thrifted Chair Makeover, I describe how to find the perfect candidate (furniture candidate that is!) to make over and all the steps to achieve a flawless look.
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We returned from a beautiful nine-day camping trip to Algonquin Park last Sunday, and waiting for me was the best happy mail- a box of all eleven beautiful new Fusion Mineral Paint colours. They are all simply stunning and I knew I needed to go thrifting as soon as possible. On Monday and Tuesday, I unpacked from camping, tackled a mountain of laundry, and restocked our cupboards with food. Then, the first thing on Wednesday I headed out to one of my favourite thrifting locales in search of small pieces that needed a little love. I found two very inexpensive pieces and felt positively giddy as I loaded my treasures into the trunk of our van. What a great feeling to fill the trunk for under $30. Later that day I washed and sanded the piece and on Thursday I completed the painting and seat reupholstery.
Finding Pieces to Make Over
If you’re new to thrifting and painting furniture, I recommend choosing small pieces to start. In addition to size, you’ll want to consider the condition of the piece. If the wood is chipped or cracked or damaged, then skip it for now. Choose sturdy pieces that are made of solid wood. Also, avoid pieces with a waxy coating, sticky surface, or peeling paint. Don’t worry about the condition of any upholstery as this can be removed and redone. For an upholstered seat chair or stool, make sure that the seat can be easily removed (look for screw holes underneath). You don’t want a seat that is glued on or impossible to remove.
To find suitable pieces, check out thrift stores, antique shops, yard sales, and local buy and sell groups like Kijiji.
Materials For The Easy Thrifted Chair Makeover
- Solid wood upholstered seat chair
- Screwdriver
- Trisodium Phosphate (TSP)
- Cleaning cloth and rubber gloves
- 220 grit sandpaper
- Fusion Mineral Paint (Blue Pine, 500 mL)
- Staalmeester oval brush
- Scissors
- Needle nose pliers
- Polyester batting
- Plain white cotton (½ metre)
- Decorative cotton fabric (½ metre)
- Staple gun
Ottawa friends- you can purchase your Fusion paint at The Little Red Spade in Stittsville. To order online, I recommend Homeworks Etc. I purchased my fabric from Maker Savvy in Kanata (Ottawa area).
Directions For The Easy Thrifted Chair Makeover
Preparation
- Remove the chair seat using a screwdriver and set it aside for now.
- Outside, or on a protective surface (garbage bag or drop cloth) spray TSP on all the wood parts of the chair. Allow to sit for 10 minutes then, wearing rubber gloves, wipe clean with a damp dishcloth. Wash the cloth in warm water several times as you clean and continue wiping the chair clean until the cloth remains clean after passing over the chair. Allow to dry for about 10 minutes.
- Using 220 grit sandpaper, scuff sand every wood surface of the chair. This is a light sanding and should not take more than 5-7 minutes. Wipe the chair clean with the damp cloth to thoroughly remove any sanding residue. Allow to fully dry, about 10 minutes.
Painting
- To read about what kind of paint to use for furniture refinishing, refer to my post When To Use Chalk Paint, Fusion Paint, and Milk Paint.
- Starting at the top of the piece apply the Fusion Mineral Paint in a thin layer. Don’t paint outdoors on a hot day as the paint will dry too quickly and leave brush strokes. Work one small section at a time and don’t go over the same area until the first coat has dried. Allow the first coat to dry for at least two hours.
- Apply the second coat in the same manner. Some colours may require a third coat. Allow the final coat to dry for at least 24-48 hours before putting the seat back on.
Seat Reupholstery
- While you’re waiting for the paint to dry, you can reupholster the seat.
- First, remove the old reupholstery fabric using sharp scissors and needle-nosed pliers. You don’t need to remove all the old staples if they are stubborn. You can cut around the staples, pull out all fabric and threads, and gently hammer the staples in so they’re flush with the wood surface.
- Inspect the foam and/or batting to see if it needs replacing or supplementing. I was able to reuse all the seat cushioning but added a thin layer of polyester batting on top.
- To ensure that the seat cushioning remained in place, I stapled down a cotton muslin fabric before applying the decorative fabric. This step is optional.
- Have fun choosing the decorative fabric. For a seldom-used chair, you can use lightweight cotton or linen. For a chair that will get a lot of use, choose medium-weight cotton, linen or synthetic. Using a staple gun, staple the fabric in place on the back of the chair seat. The staples should be about half an inch apart. Trim the fabric to within a cm or 3/8” of the staples.
- Place the seat on the chair and screw into place.
The Completed Chair
I was really pleasantly surprised by how the chair turned out. Fusion Mineral paint is always a dream to work with and the colour is now one of my favourites. I considered selling this piece, but I like it too much! This chair found the perfect home in our front hall. I added some new artwork from Minted and a side table and it’s now the perfect spot to take off shoes and look through the day’s mail. Our front hall is also used as a waiting area for my piano students, and I think my students will like this change.
Summary
I hope you have enjoyed reading about this easy thrifted chair makeover. I’m pretty happy with how this $12 chair turned out. If you’re thinking about doing your own thrifted makeover, you’ve got this! I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.
Want to see more upholstery and slipcover projects? Be sure to check out these posts:
Vintage Sofa Reupholstery Of A Family Heirloom
Hello I was wondering if I could paint layered furniture?
Thank you
Hello Filomena,
I’m not quite sure what layered furniture is. If a piece has layers of paint, you can paint over top of that if the paint is not chipping or peeling. I recommend cleaning painted surfaces with TSP and sanding lightly, then it can be covered with a new coat of paint. Peeling paint must be sanded all the way back. I’m happy to answer any other questions you have.