Happy Thursday! I am happy to report that we are making such progress over here I can actually think about crafting. Sort of. I need to recover my new (to us) dining chairs. As we get closer to being able to put together our new (to us) dining table, (we cleared the space! now we just need to find the bolts!) having chairs seems like a good call.

So about those chairs. Here are the gems I scored at Goodwill, for $22. Total.

For $22 total (a weird number, but one was cheaper than the others because it was in worse shape) I thought these had what I was looking for: good bones that would look really nice in a nice, slick layer of white. Well, actually, I first bought gray-tinted stain. I was pretty sure a weathered gray was what I was going for. But the underlying (cherry?) wood was incredibly pink, and the stain just looked pink too. The Plan B was white, and I'm really happy we went that way; it's working well with how the rest of the room is shaping up.

Annnnnyway, the chairs are incredibly sturdy and I like their simplicity and slight Asian flare. Don't look that simplistic? Perhaps the busy, mismatched (and dirty) upholstery is getting in the way. I didn't want any of that stuff anyway, so we (my mom and I) took 'em home, ripped out the back upholstery, patched the ensuing holes with wood putty, sanded, primed and painted them. Here's a little slide show for ya.

Materials

Spray paint (2+ cans per chair, though it normally takes more like 1.5), primer (1 can per chair), wood putty and putty knife, rotary sander and sanding discs (fine and medium grit), face masks. Plus tools for removing the upholstery and all those staples (screw drivers, pliers, hammer, razor).

Remove the Upholstery

I did want fabric on the backs of my chairs, but even if I had, I'd remove this outer edge before trying to reupholster (probably with spray adhesive).

Apply the Wood Putty

Removing the upholstery left a divot around the center area of the chair. We sanded, puttied, and re-sanded that.

Sand the Chairs

We used a rotary sander because we wanted to make sure the wood putty was flush and smooth. A hand sander would be fine to rough up the finish before painting.

Prime and Paint

We started out with light, thin coats of primer and paint, and applied more thorough coats as we went on.

The chairs were a bit of a bear, and we weren't expert at the wood putty stage. But in the end we ended up with these smooth, sleek, white numbers.

Sorry for the less than awesome styling. You know how it is over here right now. But they look good, right? Eventually - say, the spring - I may re-sand and re-putty, and touch up some of the beating they took in the moving truck. But for now, I'm interested in the next phase - and the most fun one. Which fabric do I use to recover the seats?

My inclination is to go plain and simple, and the mushroom colored fabric (actually 100% polyester curtains on clearance from Marshall's) goes really, surprisingly, well with our new couch. But the pattern is kinda cute too, no? It's a tablecloth from Target, which I found at Goodwill. I think there's enough to do all of the chairs. The first feels a little more formal and grownup; the second a little quirky. Luckily, I've been known to reupholster chairs at the drop of a hat, so I'm not that stressed about this decision. I imagine they'll both end up on there at some point.

I'll do a price breakdown when we reveal the dining room (probably months from now) and once I've chosen the fabric. But without the fabric, the chairs ended up being about $100 total. So $25 per chair (for those feeling sluggish in the math department today). Not bad, eh? Especially when you consider that original shot. I know you were scared for me, but trust! Thanks for reading.