My DIY

Grandma's Antique Chair: 

Somewhere over the course of my lifetime, I came into the ownership of my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother's rocker. (Okay-so no one else in the family wanted it and, because I'm the Queen of Used, it came to me)




I reupholstered a chair for someone using an awesome, and expensive, material and fell in love.  Usually, I get fabric off the sale bins but I wanted something nice for this chair so, when the store was going out of business, I scored enough fabric for about $10 a yard instead of $30.  Also at that sale, I bought some ribbing (a whopping 10 cents a yard!!!) and some cotton cover (about $5 total)  and then nail head trim--I had to buy that online for about $15 on sale with free shipping. 

I stripped the piece down to the bones and oiled and glued it together.  The finish was in damn good shape so I used some tongue oil to spruce it up, cleaned all the cobwebs from the springs underneath and glued and clamped until it was in once piece again.  

I was going to save some of the prairie grass stuffing and put it back into the chair for historical purposes--UNTIL I found that icky petrified mouse carcass buried deep in the cushion.  Not happening.  

When I bought the stuff to put this chair back together, I had no idea how I was going to accomplish it. I’ve done several chairs but not this kind and usually I can find a How-To online.  Not for this so I was clueless of what I’d need.  Call it what you want, I say divine intervention, but when I bought the ribbing and decided how I was going to put the chair back together, I had exactly the amount I needed.  Not an inch more, not an inch less—and when I bought it, it was all the store had left.

After I got the frame glued and the ribbing in and the basics on, I replaced the foam (because I wasn’t using petrified mouse grass) with some foam I had from some reclaimed couch cushions.  Then I called my mom and said, “Sit on this and see how it feels.”It didn’t pass the Mom Test so I added more foam until it sat proper. 

Once I got to this going, the project went fairly fast.  I guessed on the amount of material and, again, had just enough.  Stapled everything on, put the nail head trim where it was supposed to go.  Generally that went well except for one spot on the bottom of the seat that I just couldn’t get to set right.  I tried until I almost gave up and then my grandmother’s voice in my head said, “Move it in farther.”  So I did and it worked!  Thanks Grandma Tubs! 

Here’s the final project.  I have no where in my house to put it.  My kids  may have to take it but until then, I’ve put it in a spare room upstairs. That room has a narrow doorway and to get it in, I had to take the door off so, it’ll stay up there until someone wants it or I get ambitious enough to take the door back off.  I guess, in any case, its new home is a far cry from the musty basement of my uncle’s house so I suppose its happy now.