Friday, July 1, 2011

A reupholstery adventure

So I have this vintage blue chair. I talked a little bit about how it broke here. And my mom does a good job of telling the story about how we originally acquired the blue chair when I was back in high school. Check out my awesome lime green room! *sniffle* memories.

Anywho...I finally decided to try my hand at reupholstering the poor chair. I'm learning a lot, just by tearing the vinyl pieces off. I also discovered that my blue chair used to be this awesome shimmery chartreuse color! You can see bits and pieces that was missed when it was painted underneath. I can't believe I never noticed before. While I love the blue, this goldish green is totally awesome. Now I'm starting to worry what new color to choose. I was originally just going to go with the blue again, but now my curiosity is sparked with the thought of this chair being other funky colors. Maybe I'll photoshop some ideas later.

At this point, I took the swivel legs off, so the chair is just sitting on the rug, looking sad and pitiful.



So very rusty. I'm wondering if I need new springs too. They are kind of squeeky.


Tearing the panels off has been like a weird archeological dig. I found coins, nail files, receipts, stickers, hair ties, and even a girl scout badge. There was also a lot of what looked like either mouse poop or beetle shells mixed in the stuffing along the back. Oh the horror. I'm wondering if that's why the original owners wanted to get rid of this chair. I sure know these "gifts" weren't from me. I imagine it sitting in someone's garage for years, collecting dust, and other....things.



I'm almost done ripping off all of the vinyl pieces. Making sure to take lots of pictures and label all the pieces. Then I plan to measure everything, and do some vinyl ordering! I'm a little concerned how I'm going to fix the seat and top front, since there's stitching designs and buttons. I totally wasn't thinking about that part when I started.

More pictures to come, as I progress!

5 comments:

PoesyGirl said...

You are brave! I have dining room chairs to cover, only the seats, and I'm scared!
But look at you!!!
WonderWoman, boldly ripping into the vinyl.
My family had the same exact blue chair when we were growing up.
Funny, I haven't thought of that chair in years. Wow! What ever happened to it?
I'll have to ask my brother.
Good luck, please post on your progress.

magicbeanbuyer said...

Thanks for the vote of confidence! The boyfriend isn't very happy that I'm slowly tearing his "video game chair" to pieces. He'll see...it'll be better in the end!

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

I can't see any of the pictures. But I know you're doing a great job!

Kelly said...

Dude the girl scout badge is totally mine. You always sewed them onto my sash or vest.

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

Yeah, I think it cost me twenty bucks to get her to sew those badges on! Trying to turn Jamie into an entrepreneur and look at her now! In her own business!