DIY Deconstructed Style... Furniture Makeover

I found this wood chair frame on Craigslist for $5. It was partially painted with navy blue and purple spray paint. The wood was old and dry so the glossy spray paint had soaked into the wood in spots and sat on the surface in spots and it was just not a good thing. It was someone's project chair that didn't go quite how they had invisioned. But we've all been there right? Anyway I was happy to take on this abandoned project and make it my own....

 

I've been a fan of deconstructed furniture for a while now because I love the textures. So I've been searching for a piece of furniture I could try it on without breaking the bank in case it failed lol. 

 

 The little thing was a bit wobbly when I got her so I pulled out some of my favorite tools. Some L brackets and screws, some Gorilla Glue, and my Bosch rechargeable pocket driver. (this is not a sponsored post, I just LOVE this driver!)

I start by putting L brackets on the bottom attaching them to seat and legs. I don't put these under the chair arms or anywhere they are likely to be noticed. Since I will be painted this chair they will blend into the chair. Now I wouldn't use these on a nice chair but a nice chair isn't likely to need them and if it was I would spend the time to pull the chair apart and reglue all the connections.

I then added Gorilla Glue to the joints and any cracks in the wood. This glue expands and fills cracks and holes in the wood so a little goes a long way.

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After making sure the  glue was dry and the chair was sturdy I mixed up some home made chalk paint using white latex paint and some nonsanded tile grout. I wanted the paint to be a little chunky since I was planning to added brown wax and wanted lots of texture to hold the wax. 

After the paint dried I sanded here and there to distress the finish.

 Next I started adding the wax. Brush on, wipe off, etc, etc.

I used Americana Decor Creme Wax in Deep Brown. I had never used their wax before but when I was at Home Depot looking for Ooops Paint I found a jar of that on the clearance rack because it had a cracked lid. There was no price so the guy at the paint counter told me $2. I grabbed it and then later saw it on the shelf at $19! WOW! Sweet! I took it home and put some plastic wrap under the cracked lid. its really easy to work with, very thin so its easy to brush on and wipe off and it gives good coverage. It's also easy to add layers to get darker areas using a dry brush paint technique.

The next step in this process was creating some upholstery that was rough around the edges, deconstructed style!~

 I worded a piece of muslin in behind the burlap strips and stapled it in place to cover the back of the chair.

 Next I layered natural quilt batting and then muslin and stapled them in place and trimmed off the excess fabric in the shape of the chair back. Deconstructed style is really easy because you can leave all your raw edges exposed.

The cushions...

 I gathered muslin, natural quilt batting (because I want it to show!) an old tea sack, stencils, and paint.

 I also picked up a couple fluffy pillows at the thrift store to make some cushions.

 I stenciled the word relax onto some textured cotton fabric and let it dry.

I tore a square from the old tea sack and layered it with the Relax painted piece torn from the cotton.

 Pin the pieces in place and then sew around the edges.

 Layer the top that you just created with natural quilt batting and sew around three edges. Slide the pillow inside and sew down the fourth side leaving all the raw edges exposed.

 I added some extra stitching here and there to add interest.

 And something I forgot to take a detail shot of but you can see here is the sewn strips of muslin and batting that I hot glued over the staples. It covers them in a nice way while keeping that raw edge deconstructed look.

And...Relax