A GOOD LOOK AT THE DINING ROOM CHAIRS...

Happy Friday Everyone!!

If you have been reading my blog for any time at all you know that I have been making over the dining room. It seems I have been working on it forever (and I have). I have attempted to redo this room about four different times since we bought this house (yes, my sister-in-law pointed out to me the other day that I have now had FIVE different table and chairs in this dining room since we've moved in).  Nothing like friends and family to make you feel good about things, huh?  The reason for all these changes is that nothing seemed to be working.  I was trying to stay true to the era of the house and incorporate things I already had as well. The problem was that none of it was truly my style or taste and I hated every last bit of it. I have learned something through all of this though and that is that no matter what age the house, what trends are happening at the time, and no matter what everyone else is doing, you should ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS stay true to your own style and taste. It will save you a LOT of heartache, time and MONEY in the long run!!!

Anyway, I FINALLY have this dining room figured out and I am so so very happy with how things are coming together.

As you know I purchased a table and six chairs from Craigslist a few months back for $50.  I only needed the chairs but had to take the table with them. Since I didn't need the table (because I was planning to build a farmhouse style table) I gave it away to someone who did need it. The chairs I made over to suit my plans and style for this dining room. You can read all about them HERE, HERE & HERE. It took what seemed like forever to prime, paint, seal and upholster them but I am finally done with all six of them and am very proud of how they turned out.

Today I want to share with you the full reveal of my little chair makeover but first let me share with you the inspiration for my chairs.

As always my inspiration comes from Restoration Hardware as I love everything they sell and rustic luxe is completely my taste and style.

Now if we lived in a perfect world I would've just bought six Restoration Hardware chairs and saved myself a lot of time scouring Craigslist for chairs that would work and also saved myself a ton of trouble and work redoing them...BUT...as we all know, we do NOT live in a perfect world...AND...we all do NOT have the thousands of dollars that it would take to buy six RH chairs. Hence the reason for my search for and makeover of these chairs...

They were dark wood with lots of scratches and the upholstery (though I did not take a before pic of it) was disgustingly dirty and stained.  Even after steam cleaning them there was no salvaging it! However, some primer, paint, new fabric and lots of elbow grease made these chairs look brand new again and like something straight out of the RH catalog.

In some ways they are similar to my inspiration chair.  They may not be french in design but they are square backed with white woodwork and linen fabric (well my fabric is faux linen but still nice), so in my book that makes them similar.

Most importantly I love mine as much as I love theirs and they didn't cost me an arm and a leg.  The total for all six chairs and the stuff needed to make them over came to $75 (I already had the fabric so that cost was not included). That's WAY less than even one RH chair.

I couldn't take the backs of the chairs apart to upholster the back without breaking them so I just painted the existing fabric that was there.  Not my preferred choice but it really doesn't look bad at all.  Of course my poor photography skills and the dark, cloudy weather does not do them justice.  Hehehe.

I didn't want my chairs to look too new so I distressed them ever so lightly to give them sort of a time worn charm...

I also gave them a little added sophistication with silver nail head trim (my absolute favorite part)...

The nail heads are actually plain ol' silver thumbtacks from Wal-mart for $1.88 a package.  I used them not only because they were cheaper than upholstery tacks but because the nail ends were shorter.  I was afraid real upholstery tacks would go all the way through the back of the chair which would have been a disaster. The thumbtacks worked out great though and if you don't tell anyone, I won't!

Can you tell I am super happy with how these chairs turned out?

I am really proud of them.  It was hard work but they turned out really well considering how they started out and that they were only $50.

Did I tell you that I am SUPER happy with his how this whole dining room makeover is coming along? Yes, I'm sure I did! Hehehe. Anyway, most of the major projects are done with the exception of painting the china cabinet. I hope I can get to that in the next month or so. Once that is done all I will have left to do is get some new art and accessories. That will happen as money allows.

In the meantime, I hope to get a chance to share some pictures and all the details of my new DIY farmhouse table with you. As soon as the sun pops back out and I get some time to play, I will certainly do that.

Until then, Ciao!







PS...This post was featured...

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