I have a serious problem. I can’t bear to see a piece of furniture being thrown away. It could be the ugliest, most broken down chair and I still feel the need to save it from Mt. Trashmore. That was the case with “Daisy” this poor ugly chair that I found on the curb awaiting the trash trucks a few weeks ago. I threw her in the back of my car and brought it home.

Two missing parts

Only when I got home did I assess her condition. Moldy seat, chipping and peeling paint, structurally falling apart, cobwebs, missing parts…

GROSS! Stained and moldy seat.

…and then a dead roach dropped out! Ewwww! I must be insane.  But, I still saw potential through all the disrepair.

This chair had some serious structural issues. I knew it was a case of tear her down and rebuild. This intro kept playing in my head the during the whole process:

I pulled apart the chair (mostly with my bare hands and then with some assistance from a hammer.)

Until I was left with a skeleton of a chair.

I stripped the paint layers off the chair using the same technique as I did for this chair (see details here.) Unfortunately this chair had 5 layers of paint, therefore it took several hours and several re-applications of Citri-strip to get down to the wood.

If you remember, there were several missing parts on this chair. I had a lightbulb moment when I realized that I could used the spindles from the chair back for the missing parts to connect the legs.

I removed the back spindles.
Almost a perfect size and I had two of them!

I cut down the spindles on the miter saw (but these could easily be cut with a hand saw).

And then notched the ends so they would fit into the holes on the legs. (I did have to enlarge the holes on the legs slightly using my drill and a 3/4″ spade bit.)

Notching the spindles. Cut around the diameter, then cut from the end in towards the first cut. Repeat on all sides.

After dry fitting all the pieces back together, I used Gorilla glue to glue the chair back together.

I clamped the chair tight by using rope to wrap around the chair.

Daisy had also lost one of her decorative corner finials. So, I bought two new finials at Home Depot for $5.

In order to screw on the new finials in, I had to plug the hole with wood. (As promised: a tutorial on filling holes in wood.)

I also filled the holes where the spindles used to be with wood putty.

Next, I primed Daisy. Just a side note here, one reason the original five coats of paint on Daisy were peeling and flaking is that the proper prep work wasn’t done. No sanding to scuff up the glossy polyurethane and no primer. It is so important to sand (rough up your surface) and use a primer. If you cut corners here, you might as well kiss your beautiful finish goodbye in a few years. Especially if the chair is exposed to the elements.)

Finally, I added two coats of white paint (sanding lightly between coats.)

The chair seat was in really bad shape. Therefore I decided to cut a new one out of plywood using my jigsaw.

Trace old seat on plywood, use ruler to make straight lines, cut out seat using jigsaw.

I checked my fit and then re-upholstered my chair. Check out this post to see how to re-upholster a chair seat.

Then for the finishing touches or the frosting on the cake. You can definitely do this step! The inset carving controls your brush for you. Kind of like bowling with bumpers.

And my chair is finished. Isn’t she beautiful!

Hard to believe that 48 hours ago this chair was definitely worthy of Mt. Trashmore.

The chair is super solid now, and doesn’t move at all thanks to the Gorilla Glue.

How about one last look at the before and after pictures?

Want to see more furniture in my guest room? Take the tour here!
43 replies
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  1. decdiva1
    decdiva1 says:

    that is a beautiful chair now! all you hard work and ingenuity paid off! i too, cannot resist a piece of furniture laying in the trash, just waiting for someone to love it again!

    Reply
  2. Biljana
    Biljana says:

    Wow! Such a wonderful makeover, it looks so preety, bravo. I am your newest follower, come to visit, my blog:))
    Greetings from Europe, Biljana

    Reply
  3. Su
    Su says:

    MY WORD!!! I need to go back and reread this whole post slowly. I skimmed and took in all the pics. . I love that you take so many pics and post them. I am like wow. . .what time, what perseverance, what vision, what patience. . .I think I got overwhelmed looking at the pic where you took the whole chair apart and then sanded it down. . .I think you are crazy!! Crazy in a good, kindred spirit kind of way.

    Warmly-
    Su

    Reply
  4. Debbie
    Debbie says:

    Holy macaroni! That is a wonderful trash to treasure! I'm crazy about it. (LOVE THAT FABRIC… we're looking for something like that for the daughter right now…)

    I found this through gnee at Singing with the Birds. I'm so glad I did. I love the hanging mason jars on another post too.

    Reply
  5. BB
    BB says:

    that chair was at the end, until you rescued it.. if only it could talk .. the story it would tell. You're like Dr Handy ..

    Reply
  6. Life in Rehab
    Life in Rehab says:

    No wonder you hopped over to see my chair! Brilliant bit of work there, Dr. Frankenstein, she looks brand new and just stunning.

    Reply
  7. Sarah @ The Pumpkin Patch
    Sarah @ The Pumpkin Patch says:

    WOW!!! I can't believe how great this turned out. I wish I had your ability to see the beauty behind the trash. I'm getting better, but still have a long way to go.

    Thanks for linking to Messy Monday. I can't wait to snoop around your site and to see what you link up next!

    Reply
  8. Mandy [Mandy's Yellow Corner]
    Mandy [Mandy's Yellow Corner] says:

    Wow, this is fabulous! You did an awesome job – I love cute chairs! Thanks for sharing and for participating in my link up! ♥

    Reply
  9. Kim
    Kim says:

    Totally amazing transformation. I was enthralled reading through all of your steps. Wow, you have a lot of vision and patience. I'd love for you to link this with Fabric Fun Thursday (in your case, it would be fabric and a whole lot more!) 🙂

    Reply
  10. Tru@TRU TALES FEATS
    Tru@TRU TALES FEATS says:

    Most excellent. I hadn't even noticed the design in the back until you painted it. I applaud other women who use power tools. It's pretty fun isn't it?

    Reply

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