winged parsons chair makeover

When we moved into this apartment I wanted a cute chair for my office. I was really tired of those ugly black roller chairs, no offense if you have one, I was just tired of mine and wanted something that suited my style.I loved this one from Restoration Hardware but couldn't justify spending $219 on something that I was just going to sit on, so I knew Id either have to find it used, or find one similar and make it over.

Then, Zack and I were at American Furniture Warehouse picking out our couches and I spotted this one marked down to $14. I kid you not, a parsons chair for $14. It had a lot of damage on the corners and it was leather, which is definitely not my style and I am trying to move away from the espresso wood tones but I knew with a little elbow grease and patience I could change this chair to something that would suit my style for much less than buying brand new, and after six months, I finally did.

The first thing I did was to remove the legs and all the leather pieces off the chair. This was a pain in the butt. I wasn't concerned with keeping any of the pieces, I know some people use them as a pattern for the new cover but I wanted to just wing it. The only piece I saved was the back panel, which I would definitely recommend. 

After it was all ripped apart I sanded down the legs. I originally thought they would end up being a pressed wood or something crummy like that but they sanded down just fine and I was left with a nice bare wood. 

I was hoping to stain the legs and then white wash them to match all the other wood in my house but when I started applying my leftover stain it was RED! I am not sure what happened to the can but it was red red. I should have stopped there and would have only had to sand down the one leg but no, I chose to stain ALL of the legs before I decided I could not live with it. So, again, I sanded down all the legs to bare wood. Sigh. That's DIY for ya. I ended of fining another can of the same stain [Minwax English Chestnut] and started over. This time the color came out exactly like I had hoped. 

I usually wipe the stain on with and old sock and then immediately wipe over that section with a dry cloth to get the excess off. I don't let the stain set for very long before white washing, I have found that whitewashing immediately after staining gives me the exact effect I want. To white was I mix water with plain white paint, about half and half, and then use a clean rag to wipe it on and a dry rag to wipe off the excess, same as I do the stain. 

Once I get the color that I am happy with I let it set for a while. The color always dries lighter and it always ends up with the perfect rustic wood tone I love. I have used this method for my coffee table, end table, fireplace mantle and soon, my dresser and dining table. Works like a charm. 

While the legs were drying I went ahead and started upholstering the seat of the chair. I wanted a tough fabric but also something soft. I have seen a lot of people using drop cloths for various projects and I thought it would be a nice cost effective material and it would give me that Restoration hardware look I was going for. I picked one up at Wal-Mart in the painting section for just $10 and I only used about a quarter of it for this project so that's a pretty good deal. Then I just used my staple gun and stapled it under the seat while pulling the fabric tight. I set that piece aside and did the same with the back of the chair just stapling the fabric around and leaving the back exposed. Once I finished this part I worked on the back cover. Remember I said I saved the leather back piece? This is where it comes into play. I laid the leather piece on a cardboard box, traced it with a marker and then cut it out. Once I had my template I wrapped my drop cloth around the cardboard and glued it with hot glue.  

After the cardboard was covered I used my staple gun to secure it to the back of the chair.

Eventually I will cover up the staples with some nail head trim, if I ever get around to going to Joanns but for now its put together and that's all that matters to me. Final thing was to put the legs back on and screw the frame back together and voila! 

xoxo,

Jackie