This week’s easy Thrifty Thursday DIY project, as seen on Good Day Sacramento: Chair Makeovers! I’m excited to share tips and tricks with you so you can spruce up, or add to, your seating situation just in time for the holidays.
See the live Good Day Sacramento Thrifty Thursday by Thrift Town segment by clicking the below links:
Part 1: http://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/video/7909608-thrifty-thursday-quick-chair-makeovers-part-1/
Part 2: http://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/video/7909666-thrifty-thursday-quick-chair-makeovers-part-2/
I can’t believe I’m actually writing this but, it’s true. THE HOLIDAYS ARE UPON US! What? Where did this year go??? Many will be hosting some sort of festivity over the next few months, and maybe thinking how on earth you’re going to fit everyone around the table, or have a spot for everyone to sit in the house. Never fear…Thrift Town is here (I LOVE saying that!). Below are a few ways you can either add seating to your space, or show the ones you got some good ole thrifty love. Here we go!
Tools you may need: Fabric Glue, Spray Adhesive, Paint, Staple Gun, Fabric, Batting, Scissors, Screwdriver, and, um…a chair
Let’s tackle a chair that most people have on hand, know someone who does, or can find it at a thrift store for a few bucks; the ever popular Folding Chair. I personally had a hideous specimen in my garage that was beggin’ for some TLC. First, I spray painted (pointing the spray tip away from your face…trust me I learned that the hard way and was thankful I had glasses on at the time, ouch!), the chair an obnoxious shade of pink (my favorite, please don’t judge!), then cut batting big enough to fit the seat and the chair back. I found some fabulous fabric in the bins section of Thrift Town for $1, cut it to where it was large enough on all sides to fold over the batting. Spray adhesive on the batting where fabric will touch, then wrap the fabric around the batting like you’re wrapping a present; tuck the corners, pull tight, fold up. Add a few more sprays of adhesive to ensure it’s not going to budge, then spray the seat of the chair with adhesive, attach your new seat pad, and you’re done! Repeat the same steps for the top chair back as well. Definitely added personality to this tired folding chair! All for just a few bucks. Here’s another tip, the chairs don’t have to match. I think there’s actually words for this type of style…eclectic, shabby chic, etc. It can be stylish not to match (at least when it comes to folding chairs, you’re on your own if you apply this to socks)! Here’s the before shot…see the Good Day Sacramento Video link for the after…
For more folding chair makeover inspiration, check out our Thrifty Entertaining board on Pinterest.
The second idea is equally genius, cheap, and fun. I found this thrifty cool chair at an antique fair for $5! I have seen many at Thrift Town that would do your space justice with a little TLC as well. As long as the chair has good bones or interesting features, it can be brought back to life with a little paint and/or fabric. In this case, I again found a little remnant of amazing animal print themed fabric in Thrift Town’s bin section. I used a little bit of padding I had from another chair that had seen better days. Trimmed it up to fit this chair’s space, and cut the fabric to fit as well to where you can tuck the edges around the padding. I spray glued until I was in a dazed stupor and voila…my tired looking chair now has a new animalistic appeal for less than $7! Here’s the before…again check out the video for after.
Antique Chair Before Shot
Finally, I caught site of one of my very “kid friendly” dining room chairs; i.e. spaghetti sauce stains, oil spots, marker from school projects…a few tears (I am a mom of 3 energetic kids, what can I say, my chairs take a beating!), and had an “aha” moment that I couldn’t possibly let granny’s fanny touch that on Thanksgiving. So…after crashing a fabric store’s backroom sale, I again found some fabulous FAKE animal print pleather fabric, which I’m crossing my fingers is a little more kid spill friendly, grabbed my dedazzled staple gun and had at it. Like above, I used the existing padding, cut the new fabric larger than the padding size, and since this seat had a wooden area under the padding, I was able to staple the fabric into place. Gluing would work too, I just really like my industrial bedazzled staple gun. I was able to recover all six of my chairs for less than $20. Here’s a before shot…check out the Good Day Sacramento links at the top to see the final product.”Kid Friendly” Chair. Yuck!
"Kid Friendly" Chair. Yuck!
So to recap, if you’re having company over for the holidays, repeat after me: Don’t Freak Out, Go To Thrift Town. In all seriousness, money is tight over the holidays, so it’s hard to validate spending money on furniture, which make these mini makeover tips all the more valuable. The cost of a new chair begins at around $50. Use what you have, find a thrifted treasure, and put some elbow grease in (each chair took about half an hour to do), and you can have a unique statement piece for less than $10 each, and you won’t have to worry about granny’s fanny, which let’s face it, is priceless. Till next Thrifty Thursday….
