Seat Stand

So with the bed we purchased that was refinished in my previous blog post, I also got a night stand with it. For awhile I was just going to trash the thing because the top of the dresser was laminate and particle board. Then I thought, I'll get some really cute scrapbook paper and mode podge it to the top and then refinish and paint the rest. The dresser also had these horrible plastic feet in the front and I just really was at a loss as to what to do with it. 

Soooooooo, I figured what the heck! If I'm gonna trash it I might as well just try to do something with it.

Like I said, It had hideous 80's furniture qualities so I decided to take the top off and make it a seat stand. I removed the hardware and put it aside. I actually was going to get new pieces but I'm super excited for what I did with the original pieces so hang tight and you'll see what I mean.



I took a hammer and a flat screwdriver between the top and it came off pretty easily. The finishing screws came out with pliers.

Looks better already right!?

I'm really trying hard to not start my projects until I take a complete before picture but I get so excited that I forget.

My husband cut me boards to fit along the top back to make the seat as well as a board that would fit as the bench. We nailed in the sides from the inside out and then when the nail was secure in the side, we clipped the extra length and scraped it down with a metal rasp until it was smooth and flush with the wood and then filled the spot with wood filler and let dry for sanding. We added a small wood rail to the top around the edge just to make it look nicer and more complete. I filled the gaps with wood filler as well and let dry. I also took out the rounded separator in the middle of the drawer because I thought it looked cheesy and whenever I tried to sand it I was just flattening it out any ways. (Not a master sander yet!) So far so good! I sanded all sides as best I could and got down to a pretty decent finish. The sides of the nightstand are particle board and so is the drawer front. Yuck! I thought this piece was solid wood but oh well. I don't live in an area rich with cool antique places so I get what I get and I won't throw a fit!

After all was sanded, I fretted for a couple of days over what to do about the plastic legs. I had some black spray paint so I thought, what the heck! I put some painters tape around the sides to protect and went to town. A couple of coats and they looked perfect! Like painted smooth wood!

I painted the nightstand black in the same finish as I did the bed on any part that you could see from looking at it. 2 coats. Oh and when I did the bed, I got only a quart of paint and after 2 coats of paint on the bed and 2 coats of paint on the nightstand, there is still about a quarter cup of paint left. No need to buy a lot of paint on these projects. After I left the paint to dry overnight I went back to the Home Depot and got a sample size of Behr Paint in Oyster to do the distressing. Seriously! It cost about $3 for a sample size and I still have more than half left!!! If you are doing a small project, this is the way to go!

                              

                

I mixed some glaze and the oyster paint and painted on and scratched off with steel wool let it dry for a bit and then sanded off a little more with a handheld block sander. Oh yeah, I also took the original hardware and spray painted that as well. It turned out so well! After I did the handheld block sanding to distress a little more I liked the way it turned out. Hey, this is my first try distressing anything so I think I'm doing alright. It's not exactly what I pictured but it's a work in progress.  

For the drawer, I went and got black and white contact paper and just cut it and stuck it down. Now for the fun part! Picking out the upholstery for the seat cushion. We have a $2 fabric store around so I wen there and fount this really cute bird pattern that both my daughter and I loved! (Even though this is for her room, it's my project and so I wanted a little say in it)

   Cute!

After I had the pattern picked out I got some foam and placed it over the wooden seat board and stapled it just like you would do if you were recovering a chair. (See my chair covering post if you aren't sure)

And that my friends is my finished product! The seat cushion is not nailed down, so if we want to change the fabric out at any time we can. I'm really happy that I did not ditch this piece because of a little hitch with the top because I have a very sturdy seat/nightstand!

Old Chairs Made New

My old super ugly fabric on the chair (ew, look at the stains!)

Ok, let me just start off by saying that my chairs look like crap! I have kids and they destroy everything! I have reupholstered chairs once before on an old table but I never learn my lesson and I forget how simple it is to recover chairs so they sit looking very disgusting for a long time before I think, "Hey dumb-dumb, your chairs look like people puke all over them daily and you either need to schmooze your husband for new ones or you need to fix them." I do not schmooze anyone, ever! So... off to Joann's I go!

These are the tools I gathered. A hammer, staple gun (that thing was legit!), 2 flathead screw drivers (one for me, one for Ruthie), 2 socket thingies to take the seat off the chair (yes I took the entire chair apart before I realized I just needed to take the seat off. Ruthie laughed at me) and pliers.

First, unbolt the seat from the chair frame. Underneath if there is a black piece of fabric stapled to the chair, remove the staples with the flat screwdriver and pliers very carefully. You can salvage this piece to reuse.

After you remove the black fabric, you will uncover the stapled on fabric that you will be changing out. I suggest that you remove all the staples from this fabric too because it just makes for a cleaner restart point with your new fabric. It is tedious but worth it. You can also remove any tags from the chairs as well. I doubt the police will come knocking at your door.

This is what your chair will look like once all fabric and staples are removed most likely.  Just a foam shape and a wood board. Measure the old fabric from that chair and then you will know how much fabric to buy.

 Now for your fabric, go to a store that sells upholstery fabric and find something you like or can deal with until something better comes along. I got my fabric at Joanns and it was 50% off. I'm not in love with it but it makes me happy so I'll live. I have 8 chairs and I needed about 2 square feet of fabric per chair. I precut each piece before I started. Place the foam and wood board in the middle of the fabric and pull taught on one side and staple and then pull taught on the opposite side and staple again.

 Work your way around the seat pulling taught and stapling. When you get to the corners you might have to work some magic with the corners but if you are as OCD as I am you might be able to make it look pretty good with the least amount of creasing.

 After you finish stapling the fabric securely all the way around, take the black fabric (sans tags) and re staple to make your finished seat look clean and professional.

Reattach the seat to the chair frame and voila! You have a brand new set of chairs at about the cost it would to replace just 1 chair (in my case $80). Now for the big question.... Should I let the children sit in these chairs or just let them feed outside like the other wild animals?

This project took Ruthie and myself about and hour per chair.

Oh and be careful when removing the staples.....