Chairs! Recycled and Upcycled Inspiration

I bought these oak chairs at a consignment shop. The frames were fantastic, but the seats weren't in best condition. So, I replaced the rush with leather belts. You can see how I did it here.

Chairs.

We need them for one reason or another. Dining, accent, desk, vanity, porch, or any decor statement, chairs can become a passion. Used chairs in fair to best condition, sometimes outdated, are at thrift shops, online sales, yard sales, and flea markets. We usually buy them as is or to make them our own.
And, we often find chairs curbside that are badly damaged. If you look outside the box, they can be saved.

I found this one on the curb in deplorable shape, but transformed it from a totally different style into a fake antique. The tutorial is posted here.

Okay, but, what about broken chairs or parts?  Those pieces have great potential as well!

Check out this dreamy chair back repurpose by Angie at  Knick of Time. I didn't see a chalkboard coming. Yet, wow! It's just one of her many creations and you can see some of them here.

Another amazing salvage rescuer is Gail, at My Re Purposed Life. She takes on major redoing with furniture pieces like this bench from two chairs. The overall design is stunning! You can find her detailed post from start to finish here.

Marie, at The Interior Frugalista, is another favorite "fixer-upper-recycler" of mine. I adore this bird feeder that she created from a chair backrest. The colors are beautiful.The idea is incredibly clever! She posted her full tutorial here.

Here is another chair recycling project; by ML Furniture Decor. Perfect for campfires. Portable, and rustic. You can find them on Facebook here.

Of course, chairs can take on a whole new personality as well. I picked one up from the curb with broken arms. By removing them ,and reupholstering, it gained a new life here.

This basic ladder back was turned into an upholstered wing chair. Adorable, isn't it? Originally done by "A Corner Cottage Online". The blog is no longer available, but, their Facebook page is. You can find it here.

Speaking of wings, this chair is a breathtaking inspiration. It's unfortunate I can't locate the original source anywhere. It's been pinned from all over the world and I found it on numerous photo sharing sites such as Tumbler and Flickr. But, the idea of creating a chair like this is exciting!

Here is a brilliant idea of combining two chairs to create a chaise by Katty's Cosy Cove. She saw the potential and it worked perfectly. You can see how it was done on her blog here.

I enjoyed transforming the original style of these two chairs. To create something unique, all it took was adding appliques, paint, and new upholstery. You can see the before, plain and seatless yard sale look here.

Even simple folding chairs have hope. This chair, by Mary Beth at Cupcakes and Crinoline, not only has a new character, but is gorgeous with a graphic applied to the burlap seat.

Then we have the "big" chair jobs.  This  Cole and Sons' "Woods" fabric is stunning, but how Susie used it to upholster her chair is stunning.

I love Jennifer's retake on this big boy at Contemporary Harbor. It's gorgeous!

A super detailed tutorial, by Four Generations Under One Roof, is worth watching and reading for this pretty chair. 

And, finally, I had the opportunity to re-upholster a sad wingback. I used "Branch Toss" from Minted for this makeover.

I could post chairs every day if I had the time. There are gazillions of ideas on style, techniques, colors, trends, upcycles, and recycles.

They are like shoes. Wonderful to look at.

Plain Chair Pair into French Flair

This month's Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest is so much fun!!! 

The theme is "Mix and Match". Sooooo, I was really excited to take a pair of plain old seatless chairs from a yard sale and mix them up with a "French Flair"!  

The chairs had some issues to fix before transforming them. No seats. No problem. Loose joints and a screw showing on an attempted repair. AND apparently the initials carved in one of the backrests indicated that A.L.III was there at one point. 

So after wood putty filling and gluing; then cleaning and sanding, I was ready to create. I applied wood appliques to the top of the backrests. I wanted to attach a cushion to the backrest, so before painting, I made a pattern to cut my wood and foam. Then, I painted the chairs. 

I purchased my wood appliques from D. Lawless Hardware.

For my project, I needed foam for my seats and backrest cushions. I was kindly supplied with enough "Project Foam" to complete them.

(Disclosure: Project Foam was supplied by Fairfield World for the use of my project and my post opinions are my own.)

I cut plywood for the seat bases and added the foam. I cut luan from the pattern I created and made the backrest cushions. Then covered the foam with linen and stapled it to underneath, followed by the fabric I chose. A black and white toile. 

I sewed a double welt and attached it with the upholstery before attaching the seats and backrest cushions.

Now that the hard parts were done, I glazed the appliques in a dark graphite to finish the chairs.

Now a pair of old traditional and plain dining chairs are mixed up with a delicate French touch!

So, back to the Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest. 

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This month's theme is Mix and Match" and March participants were challenged to create a project using supplies sponsored and supplied by Fairfield World.

This contest is sponsored by Fairfield World; a third generation, family-owned business specializing in batting, foam, pillow inserts, interfacing and so much more.  Perfect for creating custom pillows and upholstery projects! Not only does Fairfield have an amazing selection of supplies, but offer tutorials and a gallery of inspirational projects.

The contest hosts are Evey at Evey's Creations and Stacy at Anastasia Vintage

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Featured!

Best DIY Projects of 2015

2015 was my second year of blogging and it certainly was so much fun. I've learned an incredible amount of blogging information, gained two giant handfuls of wonderful friends, and remained passionate about creating.

As I join our host, Rhoda of Southern Hospitality and numerous others, we're sharing our best with you.  Closing out 2015 brings goals for the new year while we're reflecting on the past. 

It's clear that being diverse can have some advantages. I've considered and hesitated to change my blog from it's current style to something more popularly structured. But, it's simply not an option. Knowing I'd find myself steering back into my own direction, I'll just maintain what I do best. And that is... little bit of everything. "Jane of all trades; master of none." All of it, on a shoestring budget.

Strolling through 2015, it's evident my work variety broadly contrasts between furniture, crafts, and decorating while focused on whole lot of upcycling. Some of it was challenging but most of the balance was quite easy. That's what I wish to continue to do while entertaining my readers. When you can exhibit inexpensive and simple projects for anyone to try, it's quite rewarding.

These project highlights are based on a few handpicked favorites, a couple of blog features, and other reader favorites. Since you follow me, this may be a fun review. If you're visiting for the first time from Rhoda's link up, I'm happy to introduce you to:  

My little home and garden DIY place. 

This laminate dresser mirror was transformed into a large restaurant chalkboard. It's proof that laminate can be painted beautifully.

A trash to southwestern treasure chair started out rather creepy.

My son's toy guitar grew up with him... Americana style. Using music sheets with burned edges, decoupage, and paint; it's more of a "tween" theme now.

Recycled cans, belts, and a cutting board became a handy tool caddy. 

 

A sweater, suede jacket, and a furry vest were reused as pillow covers.

A thrift shop lazy susan was upcycled with paper napkins.

This curbed for trash chair ended up winning the November Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest! That was very exciting!

An antique cabinet was rescued from the side of the road and weather.

Here's another plain thrift shop find that gained a new personality. This piano bench became very colorful.

A broken chair I named "Florence" also came from the side of the road.

It was fun faking a fake antique chair.

Recycled tuna cans became handy as an "upholstered chair" pin cushion.

This rag ruffle pillow cover was easy to make. 

From thrift shop vintage to a touch of red... I gained a garden chair. 

These projects were exciting transformations. Most of which... were trash. It shows that renewing old and discarded items is a good possibility. 

Whether you're just visiting or still following along with me, I thank you so much for your support. I love hearing about your projects and any input you have to share. I'm looking forward to 2016, with hopes of good health, lots of friendly exchanges and more successful creating!  

Wishing you the very best during the New Year! ~ Robin