Chair Refinishing: Ms. Kim

A customer asked if I would just simply reupholster with new cushioning and refinish the wood of this cute chair for her. I was honored with the request and fortunate Kim knew what she wanted while supplying the fabric. It has been with her for a long time; even during her college days. It belongs in her craft room and she has no plans of removing it from her home. 

The years of use showed with some dings and nicks here and there. A few of spots of paint too and there was a seam split. 

First, I removed all of the upholstery pieces. Then set up to repair the split. 

I mixed  wood filler, stain and wood glue together into a thick gluey paste...

then applied it into the split. 

After squeezing in as much of the filler that I could, I sandwiched the wood together and clamped it. 

I wiped off the excess and ooze. Then started to remove more staples and nails from the backrest frame. 

With drying and set up time needed for the mixture to cure, I started to remove the fabric from the seat to reupholster it. There was a label, showing the chair was remade and disinfected with a date of 9/12/71. (Faded, but was able to read it.) How cool is that?! 

Kim mentioned memory foam, so that is what I bought to use for a new cushion. Recovering the seat went quick and easy. 

Here is her pretty fabric.

The next day, the wood filler mix was dry enough to start sanding.  I took the chair apart to reach into the curves by hand. I used the palm sander on the flat surfaces. 

The repaired section. 

After sanding, I put the frame back together, gluing the joints. 

 Here is the repaired area after applying stain. 

After the stain dried, I sealed it with polyurethane.

Then replaced the seat in its place. 

Now I needed to reupholster the backrest. When removing the fabric, I found three coverings and lots more staples and nails. Everything had to go for a clean slate.

I bought pvc clothesline to make the cord trimming. It works like a charm. It remains in place, curves easy and makes sewing the trimming a breeze. 

I had to recover the back first, so I stapled the fabric in place from the inside of the frame.

Then stapled the cord trim onto the front piece. Once I measured the center, I used finishing nails to secure it in place. 

And wah-lah! Miss Kim's chair is renewed! 

It's the cutest chair! So curvy and the front legs being quite dainty. The semi oval backrest defines the chair.  I love it.  Hopefully it lasts through her crafting years... or who knows, maybe her daughter will take it to college too! 

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Pine Plank Floor

We could smell a dampy creepy mold in this bedroom of our fixer upper.  So we started by removing the carpet and padding that we installed upon moving in. But, that was after hubby repaired a roof leak. So the mold must have been under the flooring all the long.

Here, you can see the result of the water damage on the sub floor.

It was best to gut it. Who knows what lurks beneath.

We discovered there were three floors built on top of each other... with ... 2x4's. Mmm-hmm. I don't know why.   The worst floor was the first one, built many years ago.

Chain saws are great tools.

Not surprised, there was extensive mold build up in one area.

It was fuzzy... creepy.

Deciding to rebuild, joists and all, the guys demolished all of the previous construction to start over.

The joists on the first floor that was built looked quite unhealthy... rotted... and showed indication of insects years ago.


Reeeally creeeepy.

Some stylish reddish marbled flooring was on the second floor. Maybe a kitchen? It ripped apart easily.
It reminded me of old tar paper.

Bert was there too. This version of him is somewhat vintage.

And this fine reading material...
Reader's Digest, June 1959 edition.

It served as brief entertainment for me while the guys finished hauling out the old floors. They didn't let me deal with any of it due to a sinus infection.

Then we discovered a concrete sidewalk and a step. There must have been a back door entrance located here at some point in time.

While the guys worked on new beams, floor joists and the subfloor, I set out to shop for finishing supplies and food.

I came back to a clean slate.

My turn to take over.

It was a good time to fill holes and fix walls with joint compound. I patched the areas that needed it.

After a couple of days of  "mudding" and sanding, I painted the shiny old ceiling in a flat paint. And the walls in a satin Scottish Green Acre. A light mint green color that looks light turquoise in the sunlight.

Then I started the floor.
With pine.
Shiplap.


Yes, you read that right. I went with 6" pine shiplap planks. The room doesn't get much traffic and I love aged wood floors with character. I wanted the boards to look just that way.

I staggered the boards as I installed them, allowing to show all nails, like a barn floor.

It smelled nice. I love the aroma of wood.
Certainly better than the mold odor previously.

Nails, knots and seams... OH MY!
It's getting there.

So in order to make this brand new pine look old, it needed to get banged up a bit. Some folks use chains, bags of nails, screws, stones, etc.,  but I used this horseshoe with curled nails in it. I tossed it around the floor... dropped it... stepped on it and rolled it. It made many different dings and character marks that were just right. It actually took a bit of weight and strength, so the wood was a little tougher than I thought.

Then by using a little Minwax Express Color stain in Onyx, painted into some of the dents with a small brush, it would speed up the age process.   I hoped.

Then I wiped the stain.

Then sanded the stained spots.

Then stained over it.

I used three different stain colors. I brush blended the stains so that not one color was prominent and gave each board a unique look. I used Minwax Special Walnut in the knot areas, seams and nail heads. Then a dab of Gunstock here and there for a warm highlight and Golden Oak to blend them together.

It was looking like a barn plank floor by the time I reached the end.

Then came the shine... I used two coats of Minwax Polyurethane, allowing to dry completely between coats. 

It isn't reclaimed wood, but I got the look for much less AND I get to add my own years of character to it. 

Next, is the baseboard to  match, crown molding for the ceiling and the finishing up of the closet.
I see a makeover for the furniture in the works... oh and a rug project too.   ;-)

I would do this again. Just not right now. It was a long week. 

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