It all began with my donated, stained, but comfy office chair. Most of our office furniture comes in by donations. I snagged this great chair two years ago because I loved the shape but it turned out to have several stains on the seat but as long as I am sitting in the chair no one will know.
In researching furniture, I came along a Martha Stewart YouTube video of "Simply Spray" a fabric and upholstery spray paint. I was thrilled! For $20 I could spray my office chair a funky color and call it a makeover. Well..... that's how it all began.
When trying to order one can of the spray dye I came to find that they only sell in packs of three, this is one of the ways they get you. I ordered plum and a box arrived a week later. I opened it up to find red, not what I ordered. I also found they don't have a 1-800 number, turns out most companies should have one. I e-mailed and they allowed me to mail it back to then receive my correct order. Two weeks later I got my plum order.
I started my removing the nail heads, I thought this would take 30 minutes, about 4 hours later (days actually, I never have four hours) I finally had removed all of the nail heads. Yay! Ready to spray paint! I took it outside on my back porch and laid down a newspaper. I tried but the paint wouldn't come out, it was as though there wasn't any air in the can. I tried another can, nothing. Bryan, thinking I was pressing the button wrong, tried to assist. Also, no luck. Third can... no luck. The paint would randomly and forcefully splatter, not evenly spray. I tried to take a sponge and spread but it was useless. All cans were faulty. Again, back to the e-mail to the company. This time I attached the picture of what appears to be a murder scene in my once adored office chair. Also, the back porch is stained with plum dye (not fixed yet, that's another story). They did however send me three more cans, two weeks later and I had better luck. But, when it dried the fabric was stiff and uncomfortable and the dye was uneven.
I still wasn't any closer to giving my chair a new look. I took a deep breath and knew I was reupholstering my chair, not ready but up for the task. I also under estimated the time it would take to complete the project. I am guessing about ten hours overall, it's hard to know since it took me two weeks, I have little free time to devote to my projects and have several going at once. It was easier than I thought. I removed each piece as it was layered, took many photos of how the seams came together and used the fabric as templates for the new fabric. I am impressed with how it looks, although my nailheads could use some more attention to detail.
I know Bryan is thrilled for me to get it out of the living room, after more than a month.
I purchased the fabric a Zarin's Fabric in NYC. I love that place, not cheap but I love it anyway! I did re-stain the wood after my final pictures to cover up the scratches that exist. E-mail me if you want any ideas or for me to complete a project for you.
