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    Repurposed Furniture » repurposed chair ideas

    repurposed chair ideas

    Published by Gail | Published September 13, 2012 | Updated June 24, 2021
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    DIY scarf rack from chair



    Hi! I'm Cristin Frank from Eve of Reduction. I heart My Repurposed Life and am thrilled to contribute a guest post. I specialize in upcycling and repurposing projects, furniture restorations and recycled crafts that reduce waste by reusing resources that would otherwise have been tossed in a landfill. In other words, I garbage pick a lot of stuff and make it prettier and more functional.

    This closet scarf rack is one of those projects where the need actually preceded the resource. There was recently a hint of fall in the air that made me long to be reunited with my scarf collection. A scarf collection that was rolled and crammed into a rectangular basket in my closet. This got me to thinking and desiring a rack to hang them on; one that would liberate them from wrinkles (and me from ironing).

    As the universe would provide, I passed this graffitied chair out to the curb while I was on a bike ride in my neighborhood. So, I promptly returned my bike to the garage and fetched the chair.

    Repurposed chair

    Besides the paint-pen handiwork, the bar connecting the front legs was busted. No prob - I was only interested in the upper half.
    My first step was to mark my cut line with a pencil and t-square, and pull out my jigsaw.

    How to cut a chair
    The dip in the chair is making my t-square look like it's in a fun house mirror.

    using a jigsaw to cut a chairKeep in mind before marking your cut line that you'll need to allow enough room for your jigsaw foot to fit between the cut and the chair back.

    chair cut with a jigsawOnce the seat is cut, I finished separating the chair back from the rest of the seat by cutting through the legs where they attached to the bottom of the seat.

    sanding a chairSince my name happens to be Cristin and not Jason, I felt compelled to delete the markings of the previous owner via my electric sander. This also gave a nice, worn look to the overall piece.

    Next, I got out my drill.
    The top back of the chair is ample real estate that is underutilized as is because my scarves will hang only on the chair rungs. So, to add functionality, I drilled three holes in the top portion of the chair for knobs.

    drilling a chair for knobs

    Once my holes were drilled, I used the drill again to attach my flush mounts. I'm slightly obsessed with using flush mounts for a few reasons:
    1. They provide sturdy attachment to walls. Once you slide the two mounts into each other, the connection is secure.
    2. You cannot see the hardware. It's not like screwing something in where you have to drill through the piece and then the screw head is exposed.
    3. I buy my flush mounts at a bargain outlet (Big Lots). They sell a pack of 4 mounts and 8 screws for $1. I used one pack for this project.

    flush mount hardware
    This is one pack of picture hanging flush mounts. One set of mounts is engaged in the lower left and the other set separated.

    I screwed in the mounts on either end (top and bottom) of the cut edge of the seat bottom. Since the chair back is going to hang with the rungs going horizontally, the mounts must be attached with the mount "fingers" facing downward when the seat edge is in a vertical position.

    mounting chair for scarves

    In order to line up the flush mounts that will be attached to the closet wall, I didn't fully screw in the screws on the mounts on the chair seat. I left them sticking out a little so I could add a dab of toothpaste to the screw heads, then press the mounts on the chair seat against my closet wall to mark my screw holes for the corresponding mounts. I positioned the seat end of the unit towards the back of the closet and the top of the chair at the front of the closet.

    I went ahead and drilled and screwed the closet mounts with the fingers facing up. I then slid the chair mounts down on the closet mounts. At this point, because it was only attached to the wall on the right side, there was a little gate-like wiggle in the scarf rack. To remedy this I hammered a single nail through the chair post (left side of rack) and into the wall.

    DIY scarf rack from chair
    As you can see my scarf wrinkles need some time to relax out.

    Chairs are one thing I see out to the curb a lot, and they hold so much potential for repurposing and restoration. I hope this tutorial inspires readers to repurpose a discarded chair they may happen upon. And, please let me know if you have any questions!

    I also welcome you to visit the Eve of Reduction website and blog. Through our projects we seek to use our talents and creativity to reduce waste and over-consumption by reusing resources that we rescue from the trash. (The alliteration was not intentional.)

    Below are a couple more upcycling projects you may be interested in checking out from Eve of Reduction:

    changing table upcycled to desk
    Baby changing table upcycled into a desk

     

    storage tub to rolling cart

    How to make a storage wagon out of your recycling bin

    repurposed desk
    Repurposed decorative shelf unit

    Gail, thank you so much for the opportunity to share this project with your readers. I absolutely love your blog full of such clever projects!

     

    Cristin, you know I love a great tute and when it’s a repurpose, then it’s a win/win! Very clever use of an old chair! I’m also loving those other projects—that changing table to a desk is awesome! Thanks for sharing your creativity with us today!

    gail

     see more repurposed chair ideas below:
    [categorythumbnaillist 102]
    More projects with bits and pieces here:
    [categorythumbnaillist 314]
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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Jenny Lynn

      September 19, 2012 at 11:43 am

      I can't wait to visit her blog and see what other things she is busy creating.

      Reply
    2. Cristin419

      September 18, 2012 at 8:19 pm

      Thank you all for your great comments. I hope to see you at Eve of Reduction! ~Cristin

      Reply
    3. Corn in my Coffee-Pot

      September 13, 2012 at 6:31 pm

      Wow! how practical. I love this A.) because I love repurposing and B) because it's fresh. I've not seen anything like this scarf rack.

      I love the it. I must go and visit her blog!

      Pat

      Reply
    4. Patrice

      September 13, 2012 at 8:21 pm

      Pysched! I just thought yesterday that I need a neat way to organize my overflowing basket of scarves! How DID you know? I am off to the dump/swap shop on Saturday to find an chair( love our swap shop!) Thanks for the so creative idea!

      Reply
    5. Diane Higdon

      September 13, 2012 at 3:38 pm

      Great idea....now I just need to be on the lookout for a chair like that 🙂

      Reply
    6. Rose @ Confessions of a Curbshopaholic

      September 13, 2012 at 9:46 am

      Great way to display those scarves. I'll have to try those flush mounts too. Good idea.

      Reply
    7. Ira Morse

      September 13, 2012 at 8:45 am

      I love to see more of your recycle furniture...I have an old chair at my storage room and I try to make one of this recycle furniture of yours.

      Reply

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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