Yesterday I finished the cane chair! I found it last weekend at a consignment store for $35 (not bad considering the caning was in perfect condition!)
This chair is probably one of the easiest chairs to reupholster (which was good because this was the first one that we’ve done!)
We unscrewed the seat and popped it out, tore off the cording with pliers (needle nose would have been better, but work with what you have, right?)
Tore off the back fabric … and then removed all of the staples with pliers (probably the most time consuming part, but still not too bad!)
We decided to replace the foam because it was dusty and pretty gross – we picked up this 3″ thick piece at home depot for $20 when we upholstered the desk chairs
Using the old foam as a template, we used a very sharp kitchen to cut out the new seat
We repeated the step above for the back cushion, but we also cut the foam in half so it was about 1.5″ thick
David used the sander on the straight parts and I used a sanding block on the curves and caning.
After wiping down and priming, I mixed a bright chartreuse from left over paint – BM Citron, SW Decisive Yellow, and Annie Sloan Versailles
As always, I added a little XIM Extender to reduce brush strokes …
I brushed while David airbrushed the caning. I tried to brush the caning, but it was taking forever, so I am glad that we have an airbrush too!
After the paint dried, I applied a coat of clear Briwax to seal and protect the finish, which also gave it a slight sheen.
And now onto the upholstering fun 🙂 It was really pretty easy, just pulling tight and stapling.
After debating back and forth about the white, I decided to go for it because 1. it won’t be used everyday 2. if it stains quickly, I can easily (like in a few hours) reupholster again
We chose Waverly’s Full Circle Sail for the fabric and sprayed it with Scotch Guard
We cut the batting and fabric allowing a few inches to overhang (we
could of cut it a little smaller, but better too long than too short,
right?)
While David pulled tight, I stapled … We do a few staples and repeat on the other side, and then on all four sides to make sure it is even pulled, and then finish at the corners.
For the corners, we pull it generally how we want it, pull the part that will be under the fold and staple, then mark off the extra fabric with a pencil (pretty easy to see what is extra once we started on the corner, basically anything that got in the way 🙂 and being careful not to cut too much! and then folded corner, until we got the fold just right, this can be tricky! and then stapled in place underneath.
Finally for the cording to hide the staples, I followed Jenny’s instructions from the Little Green Notebook for double cord welting (a lot easier than you would think!) and simply glued in place with permanent fabric glue.
and that was it!
Without the pillow, you get a better view of the double cord welting around the back, it hides the staples perfectly!
It fits perfectly next to our Annabelle’s ottoman’s and the bookshelf
Our little watch dog – they lift her up perfectly to see out the window! Better than the chair, right?
and one last detail shot of the fabric!
I couldn’t be happier with our first time re-upholstering, it was super easy! So if you see one of these chairs, grab it!
I’ve been hearing a lot about caning chairs, anyone else finish one recently?
so cute! love the fun color and love the pillow!
It's beautiful! I love the color combination and I really love the pattern on the white fabric. Great job.
Thanks for the great tutorial!!! Love the chair re-do!
Oh it looks awesome! I love the chartreuse and navy together.
It looks beautiful, Sarah! I love everything about it, the colors, the fabric, the lines of the chair. Really gorgeous piece. The cane chair I have to work on doesn't have an upholstered back so I won't be dealing with that…but, I'm wondering anyway, for the back, is the fabric stapled to the frame of the chair? I couldn't quite tell! Such a fantastic makeover 🙂
Hi Jennifer! Thank you 🙂 The back is stapled, here is back to front order: fabric right side facing the back (stapled to the inside frame and trimmed), then foam and batting, then fabric right side out stapled to the edge of the frame and excess trimmed. The double cord welting was glued and covers the edge and staples perfectly!
The compressor and airbrush that we have are ~$400, so it is pretty pricey. It works great for detail work. You can find them cheaper (our old one was ~$100 – $200) but it had issues spraying thicker paint. We did buy a paint sprayer (designed for more coverage), but it didn't work with thicker paint so we returned it. I guess we would of needed one with more power … maybe in the future, but didn't want to spend the money at that time. I think a paint sprayer would be the better option of the two, I would love to have one some day!
Also, wondering what you use for a paint sprayer. Based on your description here, I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile investment before I do my cane chair! Have you used it much for other projects?
Hello! My question to you is, how much fabric in total did you use?
Hi Christy, I purchased 1.5 yards and had a little left over 🙂
I am in love with the chair!! That color is awesome!
Perfection! Pinned it. Now off to find me a chair too. 🙂
This chair looks great and I love the color combo. I refinished a cane chair this summer! It definitely adds something to my living room. Here is the link if you'd like to check out my redo: http://www.peacefullyhome.com/2012/07/refinished-cane-chair/
It looks fab!! I love the color you chose. I'm in the process of finding a similar color for another chair. Now that I'm back from vacation, I'll have to finish my cane chair. Thanks for the inspiration! I'll be sure to share when I finish!
I found this exact chair in someone's trash in good condition. It is on my to do list! I love your fabric choice, it looks great!
Looks great! Is the foam on a roll at the Home Depot or is it pre-cut?
Hi! Do you mind sharing what airbrush machine it is that you own?
here you go 🙂 http://www.iwata-medea.com/products/iwata-airbrushes/eclipse/hp-bcs/ and this compressor http://www.merriartist.com/Sparmax_TC_2000_Stormforce_Airbrush_Compressor_p/tc2000.htm?gclid=CIqvvP2msbwCFepFMgodcAgAig
Hello Sarah,
I love your chair! The color is just amazing. I have the same chair and was thinking of upholstering it in chartreuse but then I was stuck with what color to paint. Then I came across your chair and I am like "that's it". I already have the annie sloan versailles and bought a BM and SW colors but I wanted to know the ratios used to acheive the color. Did you use the versailles as the main color? Thanks so much!
I love your chair! The color is just amazing. I have the same chair and was thinking of upholstering it in chartreuse but then I was stuck with what color to paint. Then I came across your chair and I am like "that's it". I already have the annie sloan versailles and bought a BM and SW colors but I wanted to know the ratios used to acheive the color. Did you use the versailles as the main color? Thanks so much!
Hi Kerry! ascp versailles was the main color, I had a tester of the bm citron and didn't use very much. Hope that helps! 🙂
Sarah,
Thanks so much for responding. I can't wait to get started.
I want to do a chair like this in white…. Would you still do it the same way you did, paint brush and airbrush or would you spray can the whole chair, and if you did what sheen of spray paint and then would you shallac? Thanks
Hi! I'd spray paint the whole chair if you can find the color that you want .. I'd used a durable primer first such as zinsser cover stain. Sheen would be based on your presence, this is closest to satin.