Tutorial 12 - Telephone seat upcycle and upholstery

I'm rather partial to a car boot sale and love a project as you will know by now, so when I saw this old tired looking telephone seat I couldn't resist.

I'm not a professional by any mean but I am very happy with how my DIY limited skills revived this once loved piece of furniture back to life.

As you can see it looked rather dull

The upholstery was an old taperstry piece which was starting to disintegrate in places

The wood was scratched and chipped too

After removing the upholstry I discovered a basic seat with no cushioning at all, I dont think any bottom would sit comfortably on there

My first step was to cut and apply some upholstery foam, I wanted added comfort and a plush look so went for a double layer

Next I used some cotton fabric attached with spray adhesive to the end of the foam 

I applied pressure and pulled the fabric taught to give a rounded edge

This was repeated on all four sides, I think the rounded edges add more of a luxury look and feel 

I then started to measure some wadding

I flipped the seat pad over and  cut enough to allow me to attach it to the frame

I stapled each edge using an electric stapler

I cut any excess away to leave a neat finish

It's starting to look better already

I then added a layer of the cotton material as my finished fabric layer is woven and I didn't want to see any of the wadding beneath

I applied my chosen fabric and here is a sneak peak at how it looks, the wood is still tired and dull so that needs addressing next

I decided to go with a white chalk paint, after a couple of layers and a coat of wax and buffing the wood looked so smooth

I decided that the all white look was to stark so I added a piece of patterned paper with Modge podge and sealed it one dry.  I also added a simple draw pull in a dark brown metal rather than the 2 finger holes that where there before, opps I forgot to mention that I filled the holes with a light weight filler

Here it is in all it's glory.  

A stunning piece of furniture which sadly I didn't have room for in my own house. I did however gift it to my sister as a 30th birthday present.

I hope you like it as much as I do, until next time take care Tx

Drab to Fab

Drab to Fab

Yay it's the weekend! I hope you've all had a good week and have lots of fun planned for the weekend, I'm off to the handmade fair at Hampton court tomorrow and I'm very excited.

It's been a while since my last post and I've been busy working on some upcycling projects that I'd like to share with you.

I purchased this nest of tables from a carboot sale for £3, I think you'll agree that they look rather outdated and drab

After some sanding, painting, staining and waxing they now look fab, the legs are a powdered purple look and the tops are a medium brown satin stain

The other thing I've been busy working with is a folding occasional table that I brought form ebay for £10.20

Not exactly a showstopper, but now it's looking rather yummy

I saw this piece being advertised on a recycling website and knew it could be given a new lease of life, unfortunately due to camera malfunction I don't have a good before picture but these 2 photos will show you just how bad it was

It took a lot or work to give this cupboard a good finish and I thought we'd never have something that looked as good as this but perseverance payed off and now I have another stunning piece of furniture in my home

The last project I wanted share is an old one but as it was my first and the one I'm most proud of I though you'd like to see it, it was in someones front garden ready to be thrown away. 

I don't like mahogany so it had to be sanded and given some TLC, several coats of paint, wax and wood stain later and it's got a new home in my lounge.

I hope you like my recent projects, I'll be back soon with more, until then take care T x

#upcycle #repurpose #chalkpaint #anniesloan #craft c