Another seat cover

I felted another seat pad for the second dining chair I had painted (see  previous post). I used mohair wool to draw the lines, then filled some spaces in with bright colours. A bit Mondrian style. 

Here it is with the first one I did. 

Revamp for an old chair

A couple of these rather unpreposessing chairs seem to have been knocking around our house for ever, always on the verge of being thrown out, but kept "just in case" for times when we needed extra seating. As 1940s utility furniture, they are still sturdy, and had been revarnished multiple times by my mother-in-law. 

I gave them a coat of Annie Sloane chalk paint in Duck Egg Blue, softened with a bit of Old White. Then, after a touch of distressing, finished with a coat of clear wax and a good polish.  

I made a piece of thickish felt decorated with bright spots to cover the seat pad. 

And here it is, brightening a darkish corner under the stairs. A reprieve, and a reincarnation! 

(And you can see the second chair with cover here.)

Distressing "Before and After"

Husband's at the cricket, too hot to felt....so...

Made myself pretty hot doing this actually! I'd had this piece of furniture in a shed for years. I am reliably informed it's called a tallboy. Slightly art nouveau would you say? I'd already sanded one drawer when I remembered to take a photo. 

I ended up distressing it a bit more than I'd intended, but I quite like it. I used a more liquid clear wax that  can be applied with a brush for the first time, which  found much quicker and easier. 

A bit of gold behind the green adds a touch of faded opulence. Might upgrade it from the shed to a bedroom.  

Distressing, but fun!

Have just come back from our French hideaway, where I spent a few companionable hours with my daughter transforming some furniture for her bedroom there. I had picked up some funny old brown cabinets  in "Troc" in Belgium - a great source of second hand stuff. Total cost 30€. Some sanding, painting and waxing, and they have a new life! 

Distressed

 I've been down at La Vieille Bergerie, our special hideaway in la France profonde. My friend Ann showed me how to paint and distress crummy old bits of furniture and make them look great, and I am hooked! This cabinet was a hideous brown and had obviously been used to store paint in a garage. I picked it up for a few euros at a roadside sale. I sanded the worst off, and painted it. Used fine wire wool to distress it, and then rubbed on dark wax to give it a "French" colour. Buffing it up and seeing the lovely patina appear is the best bit.

This was an ugly old cupboard that someone was throwing out. After treating the woodworm I did the same paint and wax job.

But the inside was horrible - until I had the idea of lining it with toile de jouy, which I cut into panels, hemmed and tacked on. Very satisfying to make something from nothing.