"Emily" Furniture and Mission Style Burlap Chair

I don't usually do this, but today I'll start with the end at the beginning. Presenting my mission style burlap chair!

Before you hear more about the chair though, you have to deal with my ramblings first! This weekend was jam-packed with playdates with new friends for Annie and a "romantic" date with my husband to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. It really was a wonderful weekend, except I got some weird 48 hr virus and we had to cut our date short. Blah! We had hoped to stay out later than 8:30pm and bike around the city, instead we watched Masterpiece Theater in bed. I can't say I was too unhappy about that though. I love Masterpiece movies and it's been a long time since I've just sat back and done nothing.

So obviously I didn't get to any projects completed over the weekend, but this afternoon I found some time while Annie was napping to recover the cushion for the mission style chair I bought last week at a nearby Value Village resale store. Initially I bought it for myself to go with a future dining table (I want to have all different types of chairs...you know the look that everyone tries to achieve). It's super sturdy and made from heavy wood (oak I think). I'm really trying not to keep anything these days unless it's free, but I thought the $6.50 price tag was low enough for me to justify it if you know what I mean.

Then last Friday I changed my mind. Why you ask? Well I found out my "Kiwi" French dresser sold! I'm sure you remember my grey and white French dresser with the antique New Zealand newspaper top?

Well, I was starting to get a little down that no one liked my furniture at the store I'm consigned with, Grace Hart & Co. I sold my Blue Boy dining set rather quickly, but nothing else seemed to interest buyers. I slowed down a bit on my projects because I was afraid I'd have to take back all the furniture at the store. Then, Friday I stopped by the store to pick up my check and found out that the French dresser had sold. Woo-hoo! That was just the kick I needed to get back on the furniture refurbishing horse! And more importantly, I realized that I should always trust my gut. I need to do "my" furniture. An interesting fabric or a funky tabletop is what gets my stuff noticed. The other pieces I have at the store look pretty, but they're just too ordinary and don't stand out (especially because I don't have my own booth to display or decorate them). The pieces that sold were the ones where I'd left my mark. They were the ones that I questioned the entire time whether people would like the fabric or medium I chose, but knew it was what I would like if I were to purchase the piece. So after selling the dresser, I was reinvigorated and ready to refurbish more "Emily" furniture for the store! And that's why this chair is headed there Wednesday. 

What's not to love about the chair? I chose not to paint it because the oak wood was already in beautiful shape. It just needed a bit of cleaning with vinegar and water to get some grime and a few droplets of paint off. And I'm sure you all remember when I won this awesome red crown burlap bag and tin from Lisa at Fern Creek Cottage? 

Well I'm saving the rest of the bag for myself, but the red crown was just meant to be with the chair! I removed the old floral fabric and used it as a guide to cut out the burlap cushion cover. The old fabric had been upholstered using staples and tacks. I saved the tacks and reused them for upholstering the burlap. Because burlap is loosely woven, I figured using both the tacks and heavy duty staples would help keep it in place. 

Another reason I love this chair is because the cushion fits directly into the frame without any screws or bolts. It did however have L-shaped corners which I thought would be hard to recover. Turns out it's easier than covering normal corners! I just had to fold in the sides and pull the fabric over.

I popped the cushion in and voila! It's a beauty! Thanks again to Lisa for the wonderful red crown burlap bag that helped make this chair special.

And it's been awhile, but I finally had some time to stage a few pictures.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Emily

Linking to: