From Gross to Glam: Sweet Brass Chairs Makeover

Remember those brass chairs that I bought from Goodwill for $5 a few months ago?  No you probably don't, it's been that long.  Anyway, I finally busted out the old stapler and got to work.

I decided to go with a plain lilac fabric, despite my usual penchant for patterns.  The chairs took less than a couple of hours each.  I didn't remove the old fabric, but merely stapled the new fabric on top.

Before:

The base and back attached to the brass frame by a couple of screws, so it was really easy to  disassemble.

 The brass shined up really well with some help of some Brass.

After:

Total cost for each chair was about $7.50!  Labor not included, of course.

I originally thought that they would work in my office.

I'm still deciding on the picture.

The chairs look okay in here if you only look at this side of the room.

But in the context of the whole room, they just don't fit in.  So they're up for sale if anyone wants to buy them!

As Seen On

Well, the blog has certainly seen a flurry of new visitors in the past few days.  Last week, on a whim, I quickly submitted my tutorial to Apartment Therapy.  They liked it and posted a write-up two days later.

For the record, I had nothing to do with what they wrote.  I liked the angle they chose, but they posted the wrong Besta shelf!  Now,  if you're going to submit anything to Apartment Therapy, you have to have thick skin because the comments and opinions can be somewhat brutal.  Thankfully I've never had a negative comment before, but not this time.  But it wasn't my fault.  The culprit was the silly shelf that they posted at the top.  Anyway, it made for some interesting reading.  Apartment Therapy readers really take other peoples' safety seriously.  People thought I was being negligent for building a banquette out of something so obviously flimsy.  Let me tell you, I'm no dummy and I did my research.  The units I used are a lot stronger than the one pictured.  Anyway, that's by-the-by.  On the most part, once I had straightened out the confusion on the base units, people seemed to like my banquette.

The next day it was featured on Centsational Girl in the BOTB (Best of the Blogosphere) series, and has garnered some more positive reviews!  Yay!  You can see that link here.

And for all of you wondering whether it is strong enough to hold adults, here it is in action.

It was out semi-annual "tour de tapas".  We had 10 people seated around that table (6 on the banquette), and I can happily say the bench did not collapse!

And here was what was happening on the other side of the room. 

Cheers!

DIY Tufted Banquette Tutorial

Here's how I made the banquette in 11 easyish steps!  I wouldn't say it was super easy, but it is doable, if you have the patience for it.  For the cushion part, I mostly followed the tutorial done by Jenny from Little Green Notebook.

Step 1- Build your base

I needed a base for my banquette.  I didn't want to bother with building or framing it from scratch so I bought 3 Ikea Besta shelf units for $150 total.  They're also pretty light weight, so I can move the banquette and clean under it easily.

They're not very deep, and I wanted to have enough space to sit comfortably so I made the cushion seat deeper by 3 inches.  The cushion base and seat overhang at the back.  This also allows me to still plug things into the wall sockets that are now behind the banquette.

Step 2 - Chose your cushion base

I decided to use 2' x 4' white pegboard panels for the cushions.  I bought 6 of these for a total of $41.70.  I had Home Depot cut them to size.  These pegboard panels also come in 8' lengths, but they're made out of a thinner and flimsier material.  Because I needed to span more than 4', I joined the pegboards with 2" double wide mending plates.

Step 3 - Cut your foam to size

The next step was to cut the foam to size.  You can buy foam over the internet cut to your specifications, but it is super expensive.  JoAnns and Hancock Fabrics sometime have good deals on their foam, but not as cheap as using camping pads, which is what I decided to go with. I really saved a bundle by using these.  They're 6' by 2' and cost $22 each.  I made sure I picked the firmest I could find.

The easiest way to cut foam is with an electric knife.  I used a long ruler as a guide.  It also helps to hold the knife blades from underneath with your other hand (make sure you're wearing gloves!).

Step 4 - Mark your tufts

Next, decide where you want your tufts to be.  This is where using pegboard comes in handy.

Mark the holes before hand.  Place the marked pegboard on the foam.  Use a marker to create dots on the foam.

Step 5 - Make holes in foam

You then remove some of the foam where the dots are.  I used a hollow end of a broom.  Simply punch it through the foam and remove the cutout foam.

Step 6 - Batting

Next you'll want to glue the foam to the pegboard with spray glue, and cover it with some batting for extra cushiness.  Staple the batting to keep it in place.

Step 7 - Make your fabric covered buttons

Make your buttons.  This is where the project starts to get tedious, and frustrating.  In all, I used 172 buttons!  I bought all of the buttons on sale so they only cost me about 30 cents each, approximately $50 total.

This is where I almost lost it!  Thankfully, I didn't cover all of my buttons at once, because after tufting a few, I realized that the backs would come off when I tried to tuft.  This happened on a number of occasions.  So I decided that I would glue all of the backs onto the buttons.  This was an extra step but so necessary.  I know upholstery shops will make you covered buttons for $1 each which is great if you're only doing a few, but not a couple of hundred.

Step 8 - Measure and cut your fabric

Next stage is to cut your fabric.  Make sure you have enough fabric on either side of the foam to be able to tuft into the holes.

Step 9 - Tuft

Start tufting.  There's definitely a bit of a skill to this, and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  I think it was a lot harder for me because I was tufting such long pieces.  I started in the middle and worked my way out.

You'll want to guide the fabric into diamonds with your hands.

To secure the buttons you can either use a staple method, or a button method.  The staple method was difficult because I was using a stapler that didn't have much power, so the staples weren't sitting as tight as I'd like to hold the cotton.  Definitely make sure you use upholstery thread for your buttons.  Pull the thread tight and staple in a zig zag fashion.

My hand started to hurt after a while of doing these, so I switched it up and decided to use some buttons instead of staples.  Use a slip knot to pull the buttons tight.  You probably wouldn't want to use buttons on the seat cushion because they might break when you sat on them, but for the seat back, this method could work fine.

Step 10 - Staple fabric on back

Then turn your cushion over and staple the fabric, making sure you pull it tight.

Step 11 - Make banquette skirt

Next step, the skirt.  I wanted a tailored skirt that could be easily pulled up to access the storage in the bench.

I made some piping, and cut the panels.  I ironed a 2 inch seam on either side of the panels.

The panels were then stapled to the underside of the seat cushion.

Project cost:

Base cabinets - Ikea Besta - $150

Foam pads - $120

Buttons - Dritz - $55

Peg board - $40

Mending plates - $7

Fabric - Warsa Lime Linen, Gray Lines Linen Inc 14 yds - $140

Batting - 4 yds - $20

Upholstery Thread - $3

Grand Total - $535!  

Project time:

Too many hours to count!

DIY kitchen banquette reveal

Finally, the reveal.

The banquette took a lot longer than expected and there were a few bumps along the way, but I'm pleased to say it's finally finished!  We've actually been enjoying sitting on it for a few weeks now, and I can tell you, it is mighty comfy.

Here's some pictures without the table in front.  The material is linen, so that is why it looks creased.  I've ironed and starched it, but nothing will make the creases come out.  I'm learning to live with it!  Plus the table should hide the skirt on the most part.

Here's the banquette with the table.  Of course the table does not go with the style of the banquette, it's way too country, hence the addition of the table cloth.

The tufts aren't all perfect, and that little bit drove me crazy!  I spent many restless nights wondering if it actually looked like this:

No offense if this is your bed design, but this picture did make me laugh.

I'm a little paranoid about the boys spilling something on it, but I scotch guarded it and keep a bottle of stain remover handy for those inevitable spills.  So far so good.

I'll post a tutorial and price breakdown later in the week.

Sweet Brass Chairs

I swear I have design ADD or probably just ADD in general.  No I haven't finished the banquette yet, but I've already managed to get distracted by yet another project!  I need serious help.

The banquette has taken a lot out of me.  It was way harder than I anticipated.  Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a perfectionist; but those damned tufts!  Ugh, why can't they be completely even and look like the tufted chairs in stores?

So I'm taking a mini break until I muster up enough energy to complete it.

In the meantime, look what I found.

And at an unbelievable price of $5 for both.  Yes, you read that right, $2.50 a piece!  Yes, they're gross and the kids refuse to sit in them ever, even after I recover them.  But ooh the possibilities.

Let's have a look, shall we?

Graphic or floral?

Different fabric on back and front?

Way too busy I think.

Narrowing it down.

Love all of these Caitlin Wilson prints.

Which one do you think I'm going to go for?

This is definitely a contender.  It's outdoor fabric so great for repelling stains; it's pink, which I love;  and the pattern is not too bold that it overwhelms the chair.

But there's something about this next one that just speaks to me.

Yes, I know, bloody chevron again!  I know most of you are probably sick of chevron, but this is slightly more chic wouldn't you agree?

But then again I'm also leaning towards no pattern.

But instead a lovely soft velvet.  Decisions, decisions.  I hope I don't ponder too long over this one.  What would you choose?