From Trash to Treasure: Ladder Back Chairs

AFTER:

Remember these I found & rescued from the curb?

I removed their seats & set about repairing the banged-up wood with Elmer's stainable wood-filler.

Next it was time to sand, which I did by hand because of the size of this project.

Next came priming & painting. I spray painted them with Rust-Oleum's Heirloom White.

Next I decided to take the seat covers off & replace them entirely, 

rather than just cover them. After seeing the condition of the batting, 

I was SO glad that I did! Then I cut new batting the shape of the seat.

 

I secured the batting with finishing nails & used the old vinyl as a pattern to cut the fabric.

The awesome thing about this fabric was that it was like $48 a yard, but I bought a remnant at Jo-Ann's so it was only a few dollars! I had just enough to cover the seats & some leftover to cover the stool for my vanity & Mod Podge some to the vanity itself.

I used a staple gun to secure the new fabric. They turned out GORGEOUS!

 Finally, I reassembled the chairs & here they are! 

"It was more than discovering something that I loved to do - 

It was discovering someone I had always been." 

 ~ Natalie ;-*

From Trash to Treasure Tutorial: Desk Chair, Entryway Stool, and Plant Stand

1) Desk Chair

This chair was free find.

Originally, it was a lighter natural wood that I didn't like. 

I forgot to take pictures before I started this chair, 

but here it is after it's first coat of paint. 

That is the original seat, which was a beat-up fake leather. 

I took the seat off the chair, left the fake leather on, 

& simply covered it using the leg of a pair of stretchy khaki pants

 that I had ripped in the knee (I'm sort of clumsy, haha). 

I stretched the khaki over the seat & secured it underneath with a staple gun. 

Then, I finished the coats of paint & reattached the seat. 

I want to sew a pillow out of the other piece of khaki & will post pictures when I do.

UPDATE: I sewed the pillow in an envelope style using the other piece of the khaki pant legs for the front & two pieces of floral fabric that is the same tone as the red in the room. 

There was also a homemade afghan that on of my husband's 

Great Aunts made that went along with the look of the chair.

A large view of the corner of the living room. I love the vintage telephone, 

& you may recognize the line painting on the wall from an earlier post, 

Painting Tutorial: Quick & Easy Paint Projects for Busy Moms.

2) Entryway Stool 

While I had the burgundy paint out, I decided to refinish a stool that I found while digging for buried treasure! It was used outside & left by the previous owners of our house behind a shed under our deck.

After a lot of scrubbing, a few coats of paint, & a cushion I had 

(because it's ties fell off), it's now a nice seat where guests 

can remove their shoes in our entryway 

(for the time-being because I have a new piece 

I'm working on now to put in this space). 

3) Plant Stand 

Again, silly me, I forgot to take a before picture of this one. 

It had been another free find, once an old plain wood finish with lots of holes. 

I think it used to be a high-chair because of where the holes were 

& it's also very narrow & tall. I used wood filler & white paint 

to turn it into a plant stand. 

I am planning on decoupaging this chair with some leaves or floral art or fabric. I'll be sure to post pictures after I do.

"It was more than discovering something that I loved to do - 

It was discovering someone I had always been." 

 ~ Natalie ;-*