i found this chair in a thrift store…

yes, that’s right. $2.99.

in case you’re wondering, i’m ignoring what you’re thinking: “yep. looks like it’s worth about that much…”

as if there was any doubt, they had to price it twice. first, with a price sticker adhered with super-glue (don’t let that little peeling pink corner fool you like it fooled me. that thing was a pain to peel off!). and second, using a white wax pencil, in big curly numerics pressed into the grain of the wood.

yup, worth about $2.99 is right. this thing had seen better days. the fabric (though i love the geometric design and colour) was very dirty and worn through. the wood had a sloppy stain job slapped onto it. it was also covered in white spots, from rolling paint onto a nearby wall i assume.

but there were a few things i loved about this chair. the wood was solid, and despite having a few screws loose, it was in good overall condition. it was also comfortable to sit in (upon returning home, i may or may not have burned the pair of pants i wore while testing out this chair; this chair was gross yo). and it had that distinctive scandinavian look. minimal. beautiful curves. not pretentious. i also loved the sandwiching of the light wood within the dark.

so this chair (actually, two of them, but i only refurbished one of them since it was my first time and i was flying by the seat of my soon-to-be-burned pants)… came home with me.

and then it sat in the garage for about a year.

don’t judge me. you know how these things go. you gotta wait for naptime, the planets to align, inspiration!

enter marimekko. i knew i’d use the fabric to re-cover the seat. but first, i had to battle the dust mites that had colonized this chair for the past few decades. i unscrewed the seat from the legs and frame, and started to take off the fabric.

someone had gone staple-gun happy. i used gloves and pliers to pull each staple out of the wood…

once i got the first layer of fabric off, there was the original fabric still covering the chair…

and beneath that was a decomposing layer of thin padding. once all that was off, the wood beneath was in good condition. i cleaned it and when i went to give it a light sanding to smooth out the areas where the staples were pulled out, i saw this…

“made in denmark” in barely-there ink. that made me smile.

so then the fun parts. first, i had to sand the wood and stain it. i used “fine” and “superfine” sandpaper (in that order) to get the layer of stain and paint speckles off. then i used very fine steel wool to smooth out any remaining rough wood. this took a while, especially getting the impression of the “$2.99” out of the wood.

next, i used a great little product i found a while ago. it’s a one-step wood stain… (i am not affiliated with this product in any way, though i might have inhaled some of its fumes. follow the directions, use a mask and use outdoors!)…

it is so easy to use. just wipe on with a cloth, wait, then wipe of the excess with a dry clean cloth. such a beautiful finish!

to cover the seat, i cut a layer of polyester fill (upholstery foam would work also) as well as a layer of 100% unbleached cotton quilt topper. the cotton helped keep the padding smooth and in place.

i used a staple gun and soon realized why the previous owner had gone staple-happy. it takes a lot of staples, fairly evenly and closely spaced to get a nice snug finish.

technically, you could carefully measure and cut the fabric first and then staple it into place. i stapled it first and then trimmed away the excess padding and cover…

 then  

almost there! now this was the scary part: cutting into the fabric. the marimekko fabric i’ve been going on about. measure twice, cut once? i think i must’ve measured five times. but i did cut. and stapled the same way as above, over the padding. then screwed the seat base back into the frame…

…”og her”!

(that’s danish for “et voilà”)

coincidentally, i just og her so very much!  and i think i might have the confidence now to make the matching chair.

p.s. many thanks to aron and clearlytangled for contributing their thoughts here during this very marimekko week! 

p.p.s. one last look at the pretty fabric, pretty curves :-)