Big Beauty the French Chair

Well, I did it again folks.  This piece of green fabric is the only ugly before picture I have, so take it in.  This 70s fabric was in good shape, probably because it has the consistency of carpet.  Itchy, scratchy carpet that is.  However, this chair is the apple of my eye.  A gorgeous French style Louis XV rendition.  And guess what?  I paid $10 for it at a yard sale.  I tell ya, there was another similar chair there for the about the same price and I should have just taken 'em both and ran.  Instead, sensible Sam said to only get one.  I think I need to get rid of her for my next rummage binge.

I removed that 'green nasty' as soon as I could.  And then began to cut this lovely gray home decor velvet I found at Ikea for $7 out to match the shapes of the still in tact green nasty.  I also managed to save several of the small upholstering nails used to upholster this piece the first time.  The job came really easy for my first try at a more advanced piece.  (I finished my newbie level project only hours before)

Basically I just layed the fabric down, tried to situate it so that it looked normal, pulled it as tight as I could while folding over the seam, and then hammered in each nail to a previously made hole in the wood.

 Here are those cute little baby nails I used.

 I then realized that if I was going to paint this sucker now would be the time.  Actually, the time would have been before I even started upholstering.  Needless to say, I taped every corner and edge I could.  The paint took several coats.  Lots of nooks and crannys.

 Here is the lovely paint I used.  Great color, but it doesn't dry on glossy in case you are wondering.  I purchased this tub at Hobby Lobby for about $6

I let the paint dry for not more then twenty minutes after the final coat.  It dries pretty fast, even for my impatient self.  I upholstered the backrest then, with more difficulty than the seat,  but it came together.  As you can see in this photo, I simultaneously worked on Big Beauty while working on the Old Hutch Makeover.  Well more like my mom worked on the hutch while I tended to Big Beauty.

 Ain't she great?

And here comes the surprise!  I didn't have enough velvet for the back of the chair.  Awesome.  Ok, so I got inventive and used a pretty sweet fabric purchase that I had made at JoAnns along with some uphostering tacks found at True Value.  Here is the close up, I actually ended up adding some more tacks to the back the next day.  Just hammer those things in.

 I can tell you at this moment (2 am in the morning actually) I was so darn proud.

 And she is in all her glory at my apartment.  I decided to put some more tacks on to cover the nail spots the other day.  I also coated her in some polyurethane which ended up turning yellow in some spots because I put on too much.  Watch out if you use that stuff. Unfortunately there is no room in the living room to showcase her, and her beautiful backside, but someday she will grace my home with her presence.