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Sweet DIY Vanity Chair Makeover

Hi everyone!  I am back today with a fun Furniture Refresh project.  I found the cutest chair at a garage sale at the beginning of the summer and I couldn’t wait to re-so it.  So, welcome to my DIY vanity chair!

 

A garage sale, broken chair turns into the cutest DIY vanity chair! I love easy makeovers. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

Furniture Refresh Challenge

Each month my bloggy friend, Michele from Shelstring hosts this awesome event that challenges me to get out a piece of furniture and get it done.  I have several pieces in my garage so I like to call it cleaning up.  LOL!  My last project was the Vintage Turntable Cabinet so this month seemed fairly easy compared to that one.

I used some paint, wax, wood and fabric!

Getting Started With The DIY Vanity Chair

This guy started out a little bit sad.  He had good bones but his seat was broken and he was somewhat showing his wear and tear.

 

A DIY vanity chair makeover with some fun paint and Daddy Vans Wax. It turned out so nice!

 

Supplies Needed:

I am including some affiliate links for your convenience.  You can read my full disclosure here.

Materials List

Vanity Chair

Latex paint – color of your choice

HomeRight Paint Sprayer

Daddy Vans Clear Furniture Polish Wax

Daddy Vans Decorative Wax – I used Shadow Black

Soft Cloth x 2

Sanding Block

Fabric

Plywood – cut to size of chair

Mod Podge – Fabric

Foam Brush

Electric Drill

 

Step 1:

Remove the seat from chair.  This was easy on my chair as the seat was not fastened on at all.  I removed all of the cushion and fabrics and got down to the wood.  Jeff cut me a new piece of wood using this one as a template for the measurements.

The HomeRight sprayer is especially great for chairs. I always get a smooth finish with the sprayer and no brush marks which makes me happy!

I sprayed on 2 coats of paint and it turned out great.

 

 garage sale, broken chair turns into the cutest DIY vanity chair! I love easy makeovers. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

Step 2:

Once it was painted and completely dry I used the sanding block to do some distressing.

 

This DIY vanity chair makeover looks fantastic now! - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

Step 3:

The next step was to add the Daddy Van’s Wax.  I love the dark wax but sometimes I am afraid to use it because I seem to get too much and then it looks terrible and I can’t remove any of it.

 

This DIY vanity chair went from broken and boring to sweet and charming. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

 

I read a blog post about how to add dark wax to your furniture pieces.  She said to use the clear wax first then add the dark wax.

Now I have to say this worked like a charm.  I wanted just a tinge of the dark wax on this chair and I was able to make that happen.

In fact there is really such a small amount that it was very difficult to photograph.

I worked in sections adding clear wax with a soft cloth, then adding the dark wax with a different cloth. (An old t-shirt works well)

 

Step 4:

The seat was the next step.  The board for the seat was broken so we measured it and cut a new piece of 1/2 inch plywood.

 

A new seat and some pretty paint was added to complete this DIY vanity chair makeover. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

I was going to add a cushion to the top of the wood piece but the foam was too thick.  It would have come up above the height of the seat back and would have kept the wood from sitting correctly on the chair.   Purchasing a thinner piece of foam would have been an option but decided to try the Mod Podge instead.  I had just used it on my burlap dresser so why not?

These office chairs from Designer Trapped are so nice and she had used Mod Podge.

I started by cutting a piece fabric large enough to cover the top, wrap around the edge and still have about 2 inches on the back to glue down.

Adding The Mod Podge

I added the Mod Podge to the top half of the board on the front and placed the fabric down, then repeated this process for the lower half of the board.  Then I went over the top of the fabric with the Mod Podge too.  I left the edges for now.

 

This DIY vanity chair went from broken and boring to sweet and charming. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

After the top was dry I started on the back and just like in paper crafting, I cut the corners to get rid of the excess fabric.

 

A garage sale, broken chair turns into the cutest DIY vanity chair! I love easy makeovers. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

Starting with the sides I added Mod Podge to the edge of the wood and about 3 inches onto the back and wrapped the fabric tightly around and to the back.  Then added more Mod Podge over the top of the fabric.

I was careful to fold the corners neatly and kept adding more of the Mod Podge until it was pretty soaked and was staying put.

 

See how this garage sale, broken chair turned into the cutest DIY vanity chair! I love easy makeovers. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

It worked nicely.  At one point I even had a helper who wasn’t really helping!

 

A garage sale, broken chair turns into the cutest DIY vanity chair! I love easy makeovers. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

Once the seat was completely dry we just screwed it onto the chair.  There were already some holes even though when I bought it the seat was loose.

This was a fun and easy project.  I didn’t even have to get out the upholstery staple gun!  Yay!

 

The Final Result For This DIY Vanity Chair

 

A new seat and some pretty paint was added to complete this DIY vanity chair makeover. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

 

A garage sale, broken chair turns into the cutest DIY vanity chair! I love easy makeovers. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

 

This DIY vanity chair went from broken and boring to sweet and charming. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

What do you think?

 

This DIY vanity chair went from broken and boring to sweet and charming. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

It is pretty comfortable too.  Even without the cushy top and it looks a lot better.

 

If you like it be sure to pin it!

 

This DIY vanity chair went from broken and boring to sweet and charming. - www.michellejdesigns.com

 

And don’t forget to check out Michele’s post too!  You can find it on her Shelstring blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Michelle

Michelle Leslie

Wednesday 6th of September 2017

Oh what fun. It's such an unusual little chair and I love the fabric and paint color you choose. They look lovely together

Michelle

Wednesday 6th of September 2017

Thank you Michelle! I love this color and use it a lot.

Leanna

Saturday 2nd of September 2017

The colour is perfect. I cannot believe you tackled remaking this very sad little stool. It looks unique and fun now. Great Makeover.

Michelle

Sunday 3rd of September 2017

Thank you Leanna! I love the color too. The seat wasn't hard and it definitely needed to be fixed. So glad you like it.

sue

Friday 18th of August 2017

it's the cutest chair in the whold wide world now. I like the fabric you picked out and the color you painted the chair too. thank you for the tip to use clear wax and then dark wax to not have too dark of wax areas.

Michelle

Saturday 19th of August 2017

Thanks so much Sue! I am really excited about this chair. It is super cute! I am glad you like it too.

Carolann

Sunday 13th of August 2017

Love the transformation, Michelle. The color is perfect and love the fabric too! Beautiful job!

Michelle

Tuesday 15th of August 2017

Thank you Carolann! I love the fabric too. I have some left over and I think I will make a throw pillow or something.

Michelle james

Friday 11th of August 2017

Tbis turbed out great! I love the color & the fabric! Great update!

Michelle

Friday 11th of August 2017

Hi Michelle. Thanks so much. I love this color too. It is definitely one that I use a lot.

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