The luck of the shop ...

It can get down right irritating to go into a thrift store and see an absolutely hideous chair that is marked $30. Ugh! Sure, one day it could be fabulous, but there's a lot of work involved...and tons of staples, dust, and unidentifiable objects stuck in crevices.

So, it's always nice to find a completely lovely chair for $2 (no crevices involved). I know who every priced this chair didn't think it was lovable but I don't care. I loved this chair straight away!

Still, even a lovely chair can stand a facelift. I love this technique too. I basically take fabric stiffener and soak my fabric, in this case a lovely silk plaid and then I cover the chair in it. I let it dry and then go over the whole thing with poly -- I like the water based product for easy clean-up.

A nice break from the staple gun.

Is that even the same chair?

Cue the broken record, I forgot to take, before, before pictures, but I did manage to snap a shot of this chair, wearing nothing but primer. Originally it was decked out in terrible black vinyl, including on the wood piece on top. It looked like it came from some seedy restaurant, serving terrible all-you-can-eat fish and chips.I'm always looking for cheap victims on which to turn my staple gun. The nasty vinyl made this chair cheap, but it was also a bear to strip. I don't think I've ever come across so many staples. Obviously, the whole situation brought on some kind of staple-induced derangement because I went a little crazy on this make over.
She's a little over-the-top, I know... but once I started, I just couldn't stop. I don't know what happened, I channeled "Project Runway" contestants or something. Trust me, just like on the show, there was glue involved, but unlike the show, I'm certain that if this chair decided to saunter down a runway, her dress isn't going anywhere.


Why not throw in a decoupaged detail, too?

I blame this fabric, which I picked up from a thrift store. It's so Rococo, I just had to make the rest of the chair match. Now, the tough job is to find this little number a home, because she's too fancy a lady for my house.

My name is Rene and I have a problem

I have a hard time leaving an ugly chair behind, especially if it's a child's chair. If my son Jack is with me, he can make it even worse. He plopped down in this one and flashed me a smile.

"It fit's," he said.

Here's a pic after I already started doing some work and had already removed some hideous decals. The chair is nice because the seat lifts and provides storage. It's the perfect place for Jack to store his blocks.

I'd say things are looking up for this little chair. Jack chose the dinosaur motif and his little pillow, which went to his crib set, fits perfectly in the chair. I used a table runner from Ikea to make the seat cushion.

Anyone who has been to my house knows I have a thing for little painted chairs with rush seats, I have them in graduating sizes up to a full-size chair.

When I saw this little number for a $1, I knew that I had to have it, even though the seat was a complete mess.

It may not have made a great place to sit, but it was the perfect place to park a few succulents. I may just have to find a place to keep this guy inside during the winter, instead of overwintering it in the garage.

It makes me smile every time I drive up to my house.

Here it is ...

Okay, as always I forgot to take a before picture before I was already underway, but I think this still shows the transformation. This old vanity wasn't really useful as a vanity any more... So, I decided to turn it into this bench. I'm hoping to give it to my step-mom because it was her grandmother's vanity. Do you think she'll like it?

The bottom drawers are hinged to open up and allow storage for shoes in stuff. It's very sturdy too! I got the idea from www.designspongeonline.com one of my favorite blogs. It has a feature called before and after and it's always great inspiration.