Who among us can't empathize with Joy, who found a fabulous pink chair at the thrift store and convinced her husband that of course she had the necessary skills for this reupholstery project? Though the initial chair is one anyone might easily bypass, the end result is a reminder that good things come to those who invest the time and energy to give new life to an old favorite.
For only $35 (!), Joy bought this wonderful chair with slightly less than wonderful upholstery. Though her husband immediately hated the pink fabric, she saw the potential in this wonderful piece, and engaged in a little creative resume padding to convince him it would be an easy project to reupholster. After waiting for him to leave town for a weekend to delve into the mysteries of reupholstery, Joy updated her thrift store steal with paint, a little stain, some wonderful fabric, and a lot of elbow grease (and Harry Potter).
For more information, check out the step by step process over on Joy's blog:
Obsession: French Chairs
DIY Reupholstery: Deconstruction
DIY Reupholstery: Rebirth
DIY Reupholserty: Reveal
Images: Joy from Girl v. The World
Small Cool Lessons: Discovering Small Space Design Ideas That Really Work
Beatriz's Fun & Functional Workspace
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sheex Bedding
A Work Week Menu Plan That You Can Do
How to Make Fresh Pasta Dough in the Food Processor
Love this!
Great job.
That's amazing, and after reading her blog, I am going to toss the chair I have in the garage b/c there is no way in hell I have the time to do all that!
The fabric is nice, but I liked the dark wood.
This is lovely. However a note to AT: we are seeing too many of these type of before and afters on here. Of course anything is going to look better with fresh paint and upholstery.
What a great job, well done.
Beautiful!
That's gorgeous. I liked the pink fabric and dark wood, too, so that could also be an inspiration. Very impressive for such a small price.
I like all of AT's reupholstered before and aftershocks! It's encouraging for when I finally find a good chair!
wonderful! x3 ;)
As someone who is a keen upholsterer myself I love these posts, and say keep them coming! I know AP is posting a lot but I think its good to see the endless possibilities, and of course if you don't like them you dont have to click on the link!
If that was solid wood, it's a shame to paint over it.
That fabric would have looked even more beautiful with the original dark wood.
Really well done--the welting is a testament to your skill! Any advice on where to learn to reupholster? I'd love to give it a go.
This is lovely. However a note to AT: we are seeing too many of these type of before and afters on here.
Au contraire: I find it interesting to see what sorts of fabrics are out there, and the different ways that people respond to different chair shapes.
Unfortunately seeing so many chair renovation jobs can make us hyper-critical. In this case, Joy did a great job on her chair, but it was a shame to lose the three buttons - they "made" the design.
Look great. I am not usually a fan of dark wood but their isn't much wood there and light blue looks good with dark brown so maybe it would have looked better with the darker wood.
I like the darker wood too, but am so stoked that AT was hooking it up w/ the before and afters today. Keep 'em coming!
I liked the before picture. But when I saw the after..my first word was "WOW!". Very nice!
I do like the dark wood, but overall the after is much much better looking. Fantastic job!
The bottom half of the chair is very Louis XVI; the top flares out in defiance of this style. So the thing fights with itself. Not worth the effort of renovation.
Great job!
@ebanfield-
The chair was a bargain. She taught herself how to reupholster (I'm a professional and she did a nice job). She had fun. She loves the results. It's not a priceless Louis XVI. It's a cute accent chair.
An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.
we are seeing too many of these type of before and afters on here. Of course anything is going to look better with fresh paint and upholstery.
@lolagirl: I don't get it, what other type is there?
I love the new fabric and don't think that it would have looked right with the darker wood. On the other hand, I thought the darker wood was very nice and would have looked good with a warmer toned fabric. Regardless, that pick was awful and she did a great job with the re-upholstery.