Made: upcycled chair

Passing my local charity furniture shop on Friday, I spotted a rather sad looking old, brown wooden chair.  When I saw the price - a mere £5 - I decided to take it home with me and see what I could make of it.  A square of fabric from my stash, some paint I had stored in the garden shed, and a sunny weekend of painting, and voila!  A brand new chair for my kitchen!

                    Before:                                   After: 

1. After knocking out the seat pad with a hammer, I sanded the chair down to provide a key for the paint and wiped it clean with a damp cloth.

2. I found some wood primer that I had left over from repainting my front door and applied one coat before leaving to dry overnight.  In the morning, I painted on two coats of eggshell (Dulux  Quartz Flint 4 ,which is a lovely chalky blue/grey-tinged white).  I'm a slapdash painter at best, so it's good that the shabby chic look is in fashion.  I definitely err more on the 'shabby' side than the 'chic'.

3. If I were doing this properly, I'd have removed the original leatherette covering from the seat pad, put a layer of fresh foam down, then re-covered in my fabric, carefully staple-gunning the edges down.  But I tend not to do things properly, so I wrapped the existing pad in my fabric and shoved it into place without fastening!  I will do it properly soon, but I was keen to see what the finished product would look like.  Rather natty, I think (if I do say so myself).