DIY "Mock Re-upholstered" Chair

So, I'm pretty sure I just made up that term - "Mock Re-upholster", but I'm not sure how else to describe my project from this afternoon.

Before I go on about my exciting project let me give you a little back story.

Not only is this a "before" picture, this is a "before" picture of the very first piece of furniture that Matt and I acquired as newlyweds. I say acquired because it was not bought nor given to us. We found this little treasure on the side of the road outside a home with a "take me" sign attached to it. So, take it we did. It was free and in good condition. OLD, but in good condition and had an antique-y/vintage feel to it, so we took it. I have still held on to this thing after 6+ years and have often thought about getting rid of it, but just haven't been able to part ways. For a while now I've been thinking of re-upholstering and painting it to make it more modern. I finally got around to it this afternoon while my 2 y/o did something rare- nap!

 

The first thing I did was paint the chair white.

I wasn't too concerned with putting a second coat on it because I decided I liked the antique-y /distressed look that one coat gave it.

After painting the chair, I didn't even bother with ripping or tearing off the old upholstery (which if I were doing an actual re-upholstery project I would have done that before messing with paint). Instead, I had JUST ENOUGH of some fabric to COVER the old upholstery. 

I didn't even use any kind of staples or whatever, just LOTS of tucking and hot glue!

 I didn't mess with re-tufting it either, even though I think it would have looked cool!  I didn't know if I would have enough fabric to cover the back, but I did! And I don't think it would have looked so great if I hadn't covered the back too.

I'm super pleased with my chair's makeover. It really looks like I did an an actual re-upholstery project.

I sewed up this snazzy pillow to accent the chair and kind of break up the monotony of the print.

Here is the official "before and after" photo.

 

This project was a lot of fun and it was a new thing for me. You can now find a DIY tab up top, I will be posting this project along with other projects soon. This one project has inspired me to do a lot more DIY and "before and after" projects! 

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