From brown and drab to red and GLAM

I mentioned in one of my previous posts about a new website I'm following called "Better After," and now I have my very own Better After project! 

This was one of Paul's old dining room chairs.  It was another one of those things he inherited for free as a bachelor - one of the many we have adorning our home!When we got married, we bought a new dining room table set and up went the chairs... to the attic.  We're planning a yard sale in June to raise money for our mission trip to Thailand with the youth group and the chairs were on the list of things to sell.  

To sell, that is, until I came across the Better After blog and got inspired to spruce these babies up!  I followed the steps from these painting tutorials: Painting Furniture 101 and Glazing 101.

I unscrewed the chair pad from the frame and removed all the staples and nails holding the upholstery in place.  To my surprise, the brown fabric was layered on top of a purple checkered fabric, so I ripped that off too.  (I was afraid the the pattern would show through the fabric I bought so I got rid of it all.)

I primed the chair with a spray can of Kilz primer. (no picture)

I sprayed the chair with 2-3 coats of Krylon Candy Apple Red (the adjustable spray nozzle of this brand makes painting EASY.)

I used black glaze (brush on, wipe off) to make the details of the chair back POP.

The blue chair in the background is another project I'm working on... same "before" chair!

I covered the seat with fabric I bought at JoAnn's for 40% off.  I played around with the placement of fabric on the seat cushion until the pattern was where I wanted it.  I pinned it in place, flipped it over, cut it to size, and used a staple gun to secure it.

I screwed the seat cushion back into the chair, and voila!  

I think the bronze-ish fireplace in the background needs a paint job, too!

Paul and I are both thrilled with the end result and are looking critically at our other 'acquired for free' pieces. It's amazing what a coat of paint can do!  Stay tuned for more "Better Afters".  :)