Upholstering caned chairs
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Remember the chair I showed you yesterday? One of Jamie’s recent finds at the Goodwill outlet for $5.00. When I asked Jamie “what is the Goodwill outlet” she replied “it’s where Goodwill things go to die”.
We don’t have an outlet here in Louisville. In fact the store closest to me is the smallest Goodwill I have ever seen. Imagine the size of a convenience store gas station. In this picture you can see that it had arms at one time.
I had thought about making some kind of shrug or cover for the back. I haven’t upholstered many chairs, so I just sort of started on it and kind of “winged” it.
After lightly sanding it, I used some spray paint to primer it.
Upholstering Caned Chairs
While the paint was drying I worked on recovering the seat.
Painted it black.
I decided it would be best to remove the finials and take a little “off the top”.
I fell in love with the jigsaw from Black & Decker. Jamie’s dad bought me one for my birthday. However our Home Depot didn’t have the exact one. Mine doesn’t have the line finder on it.
However, I really loved how easy it was to operate to remove that little piece of this chair.
At my house, I have lots of random stuff. At Jamie’s I had to be resourceful! She recently got a new cable box, and this paper is the “quick start” guide. I used it to make a paper pattern of the back.
Jamie recently started selling Pampered Chef. They have awesome boxes! Because some of their products are so heavy, their boxes are extremely durable. Jamie had many boxes set aside to recycle, so I had a lot to choose from.
Jamie had purchased some batting for this project, but while I was staying in the guest room, I noticed several bed pillows strewn around. I stapled the pillow to the chair.
I gave it a new “neckline” in order to spread the “fluff” all the way to the top edges of the chair back.
I used my staple gun to attach the fabric.
I covered the cardboard with the fabric. I used my Elmer’s Spay Adhesive to attach the front of the cardboard. On the back I used some E6000 and tape. As you can see, I left my mark for anyone else who may tackle this in the future. The seat of this chair had already been covered twice before.
Looking pretty good eh? Especially for someone who has no real clue what she’s doing!
Voila!
Ain’t she pretty?
I used Gorilla glue to glue the cardboard in.
It’s going to look great in Jamie’s office/sewing room!
gail
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What a great idea! We aquired some cane back chairs that came with a dining table off of craigslist and now I know what to do with them! Could you let me know about how much fabric you used for this project? Did you use upholstry fabric or just plain cotton? Just wondering. Thanks!
what a wonderful idea thanks i have an old chair i did not no what to do with it….
Wow! I love this chair. I have an old cane chair that I wouldn’t let my hubby throw out (haha). Now I know what to do with it!
love love love this one Gail! YOu and Sarah are so the upholstery QUeENS!
I love this idea! I’ve been wanting to find a chair like this. Now I know what to do if I can’t find the one I want to reupholster. You have just given me some great ideas. Thanks!
I love this idea!! I have cane back chairs where the cane has completely come off and was looking for a way to recover them…i’m very happy i found this! One question though….any ideas of how to make the back a little stronger than cardboard? I basically have bones to work with lol
Thanks!!
WOW!! This is major surgery! The outcome is outstanding. What a beauty. ๐
Donna