Take a Seat!

Over the snow break I took the opportunity to start updating the look of my desk set. The last time my mom and I painted the desk and chair was in middle school--maybe earlier. I started with the chair since it's a smaller project. I wanted to change the soft green look to something a little bolder.

The stylin' look Mom and I gave
my chair in middle school.

The Fabric...
I started by removing the seat cover (really simple, just unscrew the screws holding it in place and use a staple remover to take off the fabric).

I wish I had taken a picture of the old seat cover after I removed it. You could tell which part was where people sat because it was a dingy tan instead of the original white. Yuck!

I may have mentioned the enormous amounts of fabric I've collected over the past few years, but if I haven't let me assure you I had my own personal store to choose from for this project. I went with a blue fabric with a subtle pattern. Then I simply used the old seat cover as a pattern and cut the new fabric to the same size and shape. I managed to get the new fabric in place with a basic stapler, but to secure it I borrowed my dad's staple gun. The bottom of the seat is made of wood, so my desk stapler wasn't heavy-duty enough.

The Paint...

You can compare the current look
with the old color in the background.

The next step was painting the chair. I sanded it down and chose a caramel color to paint with. After painting two coats I decided the "caramel" color is more pink than I wanted. However, rather than buying another can of paint I tried a trick my mom suggested.

After the paint dried I took a can of wood stain and lightly painted it onto the chair. Then I took a rag and rubbed the stain off.

Quick Tip: Make sure to leave the stain on long enough to add color, but start wiping it off before the stain dries. Also, wear your grubby, don't care if they get stained clothes.

This gave the chair some depth and made the paint seem less pink. I'm really excited about the look.

Final product:

The beginning of the new look!

Next up will be the desk, I plan to paint it the same color, but I'm going to add cork board covered in bright fabrics for color and a fun place to pin notes. New hardware for the drawers may be in the future as well.

Total cost for this chair's update was about $10 (cost of a quart of paint).

What do you think of the new look?