This is the first item I brought for the nursery. We were visiting Abir's grandma, when I saw this beauty abandoned, and as usual, for the lack of space (and need) started feeling sad I wouldn't take it. But then I remembered the future baby, the nursery, the new changes at home... and even better than that: that day we had a car to take it home! I told Abir "I love this chair, if it's still here when we come back, we're taking it" It was almost like an order, no place to think about it. He looked at me like "this ugly thing? are you serious?" and said "ok".
We were lucky it was still there (not everybody has the vision). And I'm lucky I have Abir, who is always ready to flow with my ideas.
I have to tell you, not sure if the chair is an original from another time or a retro style, but it was so well constructed that it was very hard to take the cushions out. I guess it's really old, first because it was found in an old people's neighborhood, and second, judging by the state of the fabric, it must have been used for a long time.
Next step, choose the fabric. Cool! and hard. I must take a few things into consideration: the chair's old style, the baby theme, the gender neutral thing, the wall colour (at this point the room wasn't still painted, but we had two free and gender neutral options so far: Pinsker's kitchen brown, or bedroom green). And a modern, fun and fresh look. So It took two attempts.
At first, after being overwhelmed by the amazing patterns, colours and possibilities, I chose these two fabrics. The idea was to cover the chair with the yellow chevron, and make a cushion with the blue with the elephants, a little more child friendly. The fabric for the chair and cushion was about 120 NIS, it means around 35 USD.
Buth then, when I presented it on the chair, I wasn't so happy with the results. I love the yellow chevron, but it looks more "beach house". The cushion, though, was nice. Anyway, I had to start over. Went back to the store and bought a new pattern, that made me so much happier! What would you choose? Leave me a comment about it.
The chrome frame was nice, but not in the best shape, it had rusty zones. So the easiest way to renew it was with a new layer of paint. I already had the black paint for metals, so it turned out to be free.
The next step was covering the cushions. The seat was easy. Remember I said it's going to be simple, without sewing?
So, I simply covered it with the fabric, making nice folds at the corners, and attached it to the wood with regular metallic thumbtacks I had at home.
In order to hide the bad finishing and the old wood, I attached a square of the green fabric I bought for the cushion. At this point I run out of thumbtacks and I didn't find any at the my near store, so I bought these things you see in the picture. (Their original purpose is for wooden chairs, you're supposed to nail them at the end of each leg). I think they made an awesome job here, eh? Have to be creative!
This is how it looks with the frame attached. Easy! The backrest is the true challenge!
For this cushion, I used the chevron fabric I bought earlier, as a template. It was sad to ruin it, I would have saved it for another project, but I didn't have another fabric for this purpose, so I decided to go for it.
First, I covered the cushion with the fabric, fixing it with safety pins.
Then, i drew the line with a pen. Now I have an accurate template to translate to the final fabric.
I payed special attention that when I drew the template in the new fabric, it was straight and centered with the pattern. This way the pattern looks symetric when you look at the finished chair. Also, that the pattern goes the same direction as the seat I made earlier.
This cover is a little more complicated because there is no way to hide the "ugly finishing". So I decided to "sew" (my way!) the cover, except for a small section, where I used velcro tape. This way, I can turn the cover inside out once it is finished, and cover the cushion easily. The cover is also removable for cleaning purposes. This velcro sections were installed first.
Then I turned my cover inside out, and now is when the magic starts.
As I said before, I don't sew, I don't own a sewing machine, and for the moment I don't intend to. So, my sewing method involves a stapler, and a lot of staples. I stapled all the way around my pen line, with a double staple line, as you see in the next pictures.
I did extra reinforcement in the corners.
And voila!! The cover is ready! Doesn't it look like a pro? ;)
As usual, my piece has to go through quality control. Uma and Tarzan are more than happy to check it out.
Next, the green cushion. I thought a cushion would be good because the chair is very deep, and has a slope that makes it hard to get up, especially with a baby in your arms.
My original idea was to make a simple "bag" with one of the sides closed by velcro tape. But I guess I didn't calculate so well the length I needed, so I run out of it. But I think it turned out well. I did one of those covers that don't need velcro or a zipper. Again, the sewing with the stapler. To hide the fabric's edge, I folded 1 cm to the inside and used a strong glue to fix it.
And this is it! A total transformation for less than 40 USD. I don't believe you'll find exactly the same chair I found, but I guess with a little creativity you can make a great renovation too. So next time you see one of those beauties alone at the street... they are waiting for you to take them home and give them a second chance!
What do you think?
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