Oliver and Company: Hill to DIY On: Dining Room Chairs

This project has been in the works for years, ever since I started following Chair Whimsy on instagram. You need to check her out! She does beautiful makeovers on dining chairs. This had become a dream project for me. I was constantly on the search for French style dining chairs.

Here are the befores with the prices:

$10

$15 (see the kitty prints?)

$10

I finally found my fourth one visiting my mom in Buchanan Dam:

$30

They were pretty badly damaged. I thought for a while that the tufted one I got at Buchanan Dam was an actual antique because of the way it was upholstered with horse hair. I panicked a little because I wanted to paint them. I did a lot of research and found its twin on eBay, messaged the seller, and it turned out to be a really good replica.

You would have never seen someone so relieved to not have something expensive.

So, I stripped and sanded the chairs down to the wood.

I went with an oil-based enamel paint in white for durability (four coats) and covered it all with a top coat.

I was really inspired by chairs that had two different fabrics like these.

I ordered these from Etsy:

SierraQuiltCompany and LOVELYFABRICTR

I bought some cushion foam from Joann’s, but didn’t get nearly enough. Thankfully, we had some foam at home left over from our last RV trip.

I traced around the foam and cut it with scissors. Thankfully, it didn't need to look perfect as it would be covered with cloth.

This is what my living room looked like during this process. See if you can find the kitty. This was her favorite project I have ever done.

I sprayed adhesive on the top cushions to keep them in place and then stapled. And stapled. And stapled some more. So many staples. I am very grateful for magnets, because our living room was covered!

Lastly, I glued white gimp braid trim around the edges, and voila!

I love how they turned out! This was a project I was so excited to work on, and I am even more thrilled with how they look in our little kitchen! I think our house just got a little bit cozier! And what an appropriate time to have this done around Thanksgiving.

Which one is your favorite? Of course I had to name them. When I was a kid, I overheard this older teenager name an inanimate object, so I obviously adopted that personality trait.