Vintage chair revamp.
This was a long process, but so worth the effort. I found these AMAZING vintage chairs at this great furniture shop in the OKC metro. I was able to get them at a good price, still more than I wanted to, but I wasn't able to physically walk out of the store without them.
They even swiveled! I was super excited!
Once I got them home, then came the dissembling.
First!!!!!!! Before you do anything else, take a picture of how it was assembled. Once you get the piece apart, it is very common to ABSOLUTELY forget how it goes back together.
Then start unscrewing/ de-nailing/ de-stapling your piece.
HLT (Handy Little Tip): Old foam and batting will disintegrate after time, so put down plastic before you start ripping things apart.
Two wonderful tools that I have found to be helpful are the Needle-nosed Pliers and Wallpaper/paint scraper. The scraper has a solid pointy tip that works great for getting under staples and the pliers easily grab little bits.
Take apart each piece seperately so that you can keep all of the screws or nails together. Put each section in a different baggie and label accordingly. Even if you are going to replace them, it makes it a whole lot easier to take each baggie into the hardware store, hand to an employee and tell them you need matching ones. :) Or, ya know, dig them out of those confusing bins yourself. :)
HLT: ALWAYS buy extra of each type. Inevitably, you will end up dropping one only to watch it roll under something into the dark abyss of lost things.
If the foam is in good shape - As was the case in the top portion of these chairs - (They were wrapped in plastic before being upholstered).
The seats were a whole different story. First, I had to take off one layer of staples to remove the dust cover.
Then you get to see what shape the seat board is in. This is where you decide that it will hold up or you will have to replace. And once again, remove several layers of staples.
Once the other pieces were down to bare minimum, I started working on the frame. Time to take it outside and sand it down. If you are not up for tedious work (then upholstery is not a project for you). It takes many hours of sanding and deconstruction to complete one piece. But hey, worth the time.
Once sanded, give it a good wipe down with some high dollar water. Just kidding, plain 'ol tap is just fine. Let dry.
Now, time for phase 2..... to be continued!
