New Chairs: Adding Schoolhouse Flair in the Dining

Can I just say I am still jumping up and down over this find? Or should I say steal? This was such a good deal.

One of the many benefits of spending most of my day in the recliner nursing this hungry kid is having plenty of time to scroll through furniture for sale on the internet. Adam would say this isn't a positive, but a negative--as I've also been spending loads of time scrolling Pinterest. Which means more projects for him.

Back to the chairs for sale.
They were old. But not crappy old chairs. The good kind of old chairs. Old chairs saved from a school demolition. They were probably used in the library.

They'd need a little cleaning up and maybe refinished one day. They were sturdy, heavy, solid wood chairs.  They were cute.  There were 8 of them. They were cheap.  I'm talking less than 4 bucks a chair. Really. 

I wanted to replace the chairs we had at the dining room table for awhile now.  They were crappy craigslist chairs that never had a chance to be redone.  I just threw some slipcovers over them and called it good enough.

old slipcovered chairs

But the metal chairs I really wanted were a small fortune for 8 of them.  So I had to wait for the right deal to come along. My waiting paid off!

Have you gotten any good deals lately?

Flea Market Flips, Steals & Deals: Tufted Pair

Since flea market season has started, and I try to hit a flea market or an estate sale each month, I'm going to share a few bargains and deals with you. Some of the items will be purchased and go right in the house as is....and some of them will be getting a makeover!

Like this sweet pair:

I snapped these two babies up at the Third Sunday Market flea market this past weekend in Bloomington-Normal, IL.

This flea market is by far, my very favorite flea market of all time. It's the best one. THE BEST ONE.
If you are within a few hours of Bloomington-Normal, and you like bargains, you need to go. If you need a shopping buddy, let me know. I'm always up for a flea market. Really.

Ok, so guess how much I paid for the pair? Go ahead, guess..............
.............................................................................................
If you guessed 12 dollars, then you are right. But you probably didn't guess that, let's be honest.

When I walked into the booth and saw these--the dealer told me $15 and my jaw dropped. $15 bucks for the set, not each! She obviously was not fooling around because then she told me I could have them for $12. So....out came my wallet.

They need work. The fabric has a small hole on the back. They are dirty. One of the feet is missing it's caster and the wood is cracked on the leg. I have no idea how to reupholster a chair, let alone a tufted chair. But for $12. How could I say no?

These chairs are going to get some sort of makeover, and they will find a new home in our master bedroom.

The bedroom is still in the works. We already ordered a new bedding set, and am on the hunt for two new nightstands to makeover. Don't forget my mission for the summer: Hang Stuff on Walls. See part 1; plan for a plate wall and the golden gallery wall; part 2 which also applies to the master bedroom.

So, since I'm not sure I could do the reupholster myself without having a DIY breakdown and crying about it, I have a call into a local upholstery to get a quote. I figure if I can get these chairs custom upholstered for less than it would cost to buy brand new I am winning!

P.S. The dresser we used to make a custom vintage bathroom vanity in our powder room came from the same flea market! 

Have you ever been to the 3rd Sunday Market?
Would you attempt to reupholster these chairs yourself?

Painted Upholstery: Pinterest Challenge

Today I am participating in the Pinterest Challenge! I decided to take one of my pins from Hyphen Interiors and try her tutorial on painted upholstery!

From mellow yellow to burnt orange!

I had this old chair that I actually only paid $5 bucks for. And I love it, but the bright yellow and green just was not doing it for me. I figured I would have it reupholstered sometime. When I saw this tutorial from Hyphen Interiors I figured why not??
And the Pinterest Challenge was what I needed to get my butt in gear!

What I used
1 8 oz bottle of Textile Medium
3 2 oz bottles of acrylic paint; burnt sienna
painters tape
paint brushes
spray bottle filled with water

What I Mixed
1 part paint
1 part water
2 parts textile medium

How I did it
1. tape off parts of chair you don't feel like scraping paint off later
2. spritz entire chair with water. Like a lot
3. paint on paint, water, and textile medium mixture
4. let dry for two hours (watch a few episodes of Boy Meets World)
5. repeat step 3, let dry for the night
6. repeat step 3 again
7. touch up spots after 24 hours
8. Enjoy your new chair

Spritzing spritzing spritzingggg

after the first coat. you could see some yellow poking through still

Side Note: You may panic a tad after the first coat. Because it will look terrible. Like, really bad. But just keep going!!

FINITO.

Really, it was a pretty simple project. It just took about 20 minutes per coat.
The fabric is not really rough, but it wasn't the softest fabric when I started either. I would say it isn't going to be my best project ever. But it did the job!

It gives the chair the rugged, warmer look. It most likely will not stay this way forever. It isn't perfect at all, there are a few spots that are not perfect...I still would like to have it reupholstered someday.

It's hard to get a decent photo of it with my lack of fancy camera skills, but in person, you don't notice the imperfections unless you are looking for them. And it blends in nicely with the colors in our home now.

Cost
Chair: $5
Textile Medium $8
Acrylic paint 3x 79 cents = $2.37
Total cost: $15.37 including the chair!

I think for 15 bucks I can live with it not being perfect for now!

Linking up to Decor and the Dog,  Young House Love, The Remodeled Life, and Bower Power!!
Thanks for the kick in the butt to get it done ladies!


For more details on how to paint upholstery check out Hyphen Interiors for her projects, she has lot's of details, Q&A's and photos!! 

Have you every painted upholstery?
Did you participate in the Pinterest Challenge? Leave me a link, I'd love to see!
Do you also watch Boy Meets World or other 90's shows in between crafting?

DIY Rustic Farmhouse Bench

And now we have a place to sit...

One afternoon I came home from work and there was a bench ready to sand & stain...

It took him just a couple of hours to build. He used plans from Ana White's site just like we did last month when we shared our DIY Farmhouse Table.

It's perfect.

Actually everyone who comes over now says "it's so big!" Well, who wants to have half your butt hanging off the bench while you are having dinner? (we do not have tiny buns in this house...) Not me, so we made it larger than the plans called for. And longer, because our dining area is a pretty large area.

Right now we have kind of a hodgepodge of chairs going on. I sort of like it, but have a few changes in mind, and am on the lookout on craigslist & auctions.

I wanted chairs on one side and also on each end. Do you think we need a bench for the other side too? I vote chairs. Adam votes bench. Scout also votes bench.

Close up shows the slight color difference.

It took us about an hour to sand & stain it. Then of course a few coats of poly.
To stain it, we used a mix of Classic Grey & Jacobean by Minwax. Although, this time I added a little more classic grey...so the color varies from the table by just a tad. Oh well.


What have you built from Ana White's plans? 
Do you think we need a bench for the other side or stick with chairs? 
Do you mix your stains to get the look you want? If so do you always measure correctly? I just kind of throw stuff together. oops.