The Peacock Chair

A few months back, I completed this chair and it still stands..without a doubt...my favorite flip EVER! It was costly and time consuming, but so worth it.

I didn't get enough pictures and supply list to do a tutorial, but I did get some pictures of ripping it down and putting it back together. Scroll down to see the transformation!

I saw this gem at the Habitat for Humanity store. She was old, tattered, and needed help. She did come with a hefty price of $30, which I normally would just walk away from. In fact, I did walk away, and went back, and walked away again. Right before I left, I snatched her up, paid, and left the store feeling like I made a bad decision.

The evolution of my frustration

Pulled off the seat fabric and find a busted spring, that was being held down by the fabric...::sigh::...

Took off the gross cotton and hay, (how cushions were made a long time ago), and the rest of the springs bounced up...:::whimpering:::...

In fit a frustration, I must have grabbed all my tools and ripped the whole seat apart. The springs were rusted, and burlap was rotted, and nothing about that part of the chair could be saved.

Here she is, completely gutted seat. I also had about 527 of those small black upholstery tacks to remove. After completely cleaning her up, I was finally able to visualize what I wanted to do.

Putting her back together...

I didn't take any pictures of rebuilding the seat, I think I just got caught up in the moment and kept going. I lightly sanded the frame, primed, and then sprayed it with a glossy black paint. I then sealed it with spray polyurethane. For the seat, I just cut out some 4 inch foam to fit, and then added batting for extra softness. I also had to restrap the bottom of the chair for support using burlap furniture strapping.

I fell in love with this fabric as soon as I saw it! Only problem, it was $21 a yard. The person who bought this chair, was actually an employee at the fabric store. Our simple conversation of what I was trying to do, turned into her buying the fabric, and then buying the chair for her daughter. I was so excited that I got the opportunity to finish this chair as I wanted, and also have someone who would adore it. It took me over an hour JUST TO FIGURE OUT PATTERN PLACEMENT! I wanted the "eyes" of the peacock print to lay on the chair a certain way. Once I got it figured out, I stapled it on, and cut off the excess material.

I also didn't get pictures of the last stage of putting this chair back together. Basically, I glued white trim (gimp) on the area where I stapled the fabric. I then hammered gold nail heads on top of the trim to accent the gold threading detail on the fabric.

Finished!

What started out as a "bad decision", turned into one of my favorite flips ever. I didn't make money on this chair, but I did get the opportunity to make this chair beautiful again. I am grateful for the employee at the fabric store for embracing my vision and gifting it to her daughter. If anything....and I know this sounds shallow....I have bragging rights on this chair!