One of the first things I noticed after moving to L.A. is how people just discard their old junk on the side of road. I’ve seen everything from furniture, to lamps…even silverware. At first I wondered how theses people could be so lazy. I mean, Goodwill is literally right up the street. But my disgust quickly turned to glee, once I realized these piles of trash were really just DIY makeover projects waiting to happen!

Take this chair, for instance: Once headed straight for the landfill, I decided to give it a new life. Sure, the chair’s been worn to the bone, carved up, even chewed almost to the breaking point. But I saw it’s potential the moment I laid eyes on it.

LET THE MAKEOVER MAGIC BEGIN…

Fortunately, the chair’s construction was very simple- perfect for my very first makeover project. I started by stripping the chair of it’s hideous seat cusion and nail-head trim. The seat was still in great condition, and I didn’t need to replace any of the foam. I did need to give it a good scrub down, however, and I did so using Murphy’s Oil Soap. The biggest challenge with this chair, was all the damage from this poor thing’s previous owners. I was able to repair the carvings and chewed leg by sanding down the entire surface, filling the holes and knicks and re-shaping the rungs with wood filler, then sanding again. Some areas of the chair were so damaged, I had to repeat this process three times. Once the chair was smooth again, I was ready to refinish it.

Since very little in my house is allowed to be full-on girly anymore, I decided to shabby-chic this sucker out, and give it an antique, distressed finish, with a lovely duck-egg blue cushion. To accomplish the distressed finish, I rubbed the edges of the chair with a votive candle, then spray-painted in heirloom white. Once the paint was dry, I rubbed the candle wax off, revealing the natural wood finish. To seal in the finish, I rubbed on some Minwax Wipe-on polyurethane , and VOILA! A brand-new, old-looking (but in a totally fab way) chair!

NOBODY PUTS THIS CHAIR IN THE CORNER!

The final step was cutting the fabric, using the original cushion as a template. I then stapled it to the chair frame, using a staple gun, and glued on the trim with a glue gun.

Just $15 later, hubs and I have brand new chair, that looks remarkably like the Pottery Barn ones that cost $200, only better. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Pun intended.