rachel’s chairs . before & after

April 18, 2011 separator Before & After


I can’t believe we’re already on the third Before & After! Rachel, the creative lady behind {This is not a craft}, worked her magic on a couple free chairs, and they ended up so cute that she was able to sell them! On a slightly related note, Pthalo Azul, Rachel’s Etsy shop, is absolutely incredible – seriously!!!

Get the rest of of the details, including the “after” after the jump!



Time: about four days, drying time included

Budget: $40 – paint and fabric (with enough leftover for several more chairs!)

In Rachel’s Words: My friend Krystle and I were in between jobs, and we had always talked about reupholstering furniture to sell. She has a background in interior design and photography, and I have a background in illustration and making hands-on art. We’re a good team, since I enjoy the monotony of making a technical chair, and she enjoys the monotony of searching for chairs to redo. Krystle jumped onto Craigslist and found two all-wood chairs from the 50s being given away not far from where we lived, and once we got them home, they fell apart completely – definitely in need of some TLC! 


We had to unscrew everything and hammer it back together and then reglue with Gorrilla glue overnight to make it really stable in order to sell for a children’s room later. Thinking along the line of a children’s room, we picked up some cute pastel fabric and painted the chairs to go along with the pastel scheme. I think if we did it all over again, we’d make a lot more shortcuts and do it in about a quarter the time – by using spray paint, using batting over a square cushion to get a slope, and also getting a chair that wasn’t in shambles to begin with. But, when we sold them, the project was well worth it for the satisfaction of both making someone else happy and learning a new trade at the same time.



Did you love this Before & After? Tell Rachel in the comments! Want to submit your own? Email me up to four pictures, with the “after” pictures being well-staged and crisp quality. Send ’em along to shrimpsaladcircus [!at] gmail dot com. 

7 comments

  1. DOn’t you hate that when you buy something thinking the piece is solid, only to have it fall apart when it comes home? But you did a smashing job Rachel, they look fantastic!

  2. Thanks so much for the before and after photos. I am looking to buy a house and won’t have the funds to buy much furniture. I will be attempting to do a lot of this myself.

    You are inspiring and far enough away to be out of range for shipping!

    Keep ’em coming!

    Trisha

  3. Thanks so much for posting on our little chairs! (and for the shop shout out 🙂 )

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