The Glider Chair: Before and After

Alas, it is time to reveal my annual project from H-E-double-hockey-sticks. There always seems to be one thing I choose to do every year that I think will be easy-peasy... then it turns out to be a ding-dang nightmare. This year: The Glider Chair.

I found this smooth operator at a rummage sale in August for $25, thinking, "For a few extra bucks, I could breathe new life into this thing, no problem! Easy!" A little paint + a little cushion coverage = not too shabby. In theory, it didn't seem like a bad idea.

In reality: Bad Idea.

What I thought would take a few days took a month and hogged up a bunch of my beloved sewing time. This brought out the fury in me because I have a long list of sewing projects to finish by the end of the year, not to mention custom orders and holiday gifts to make!

After taking this baby apart, sanding for days, priming, painting in the garage late at night for many nights in a row with three coats of paint and then a coat of clear lacquer... then putting it back together (including painting the little wooden screw cover button things), making a pattern and sewing the covers for the cushions (including zippers)....

LOW AND BEHOLD!

She is complete for pity's sake!

And I better be spending every nursing moment in this gol' darn thing after the baby is born so that I may enjoy the fruits of my labor and come to some sort of reconciliation with my crazy old-but-new Glider Chair.

 

I found this fabric at good ol' JoAnn's for a good price at 50% off - LOVE IT. It's a nice Home Dec weight, it's an interesting pattern but not too cutesy or baby-baby, and I think it'll wipe off easily (I'm foreseeing spit-up in my near future...). I even had enough extra to make a matching bolster pillow for my back, too! Yippee!

So even though I wanted to light my hair on fire during the refinishing/repainting process... I can now extinguish that fire by enjoying a nice little rocky-rocky in my new fancy chair at night. More Yippee's!