Who remembers the Jenny Jones show? It aired when I was much too young and impressionable to be watching it, but sometimes when my mom went to the grocery store I would sneak. My favorite episodes were the ones where guests would bring a bully from their past to show them that, while they used to be a nerd, they now were a sexy stripper… or something along those lines. I just never understood why they felt the need to try to validate themselves like that. Until now.
The Hoard Sale was AMAZING, but as we were cleaning up I was dumbfounded at the treasures that people passed up. Stuff that was amazing, and a great price, that got overlooked because all of the “good stuff” had been taken. Well guess what? It was allllll good stuff. (Do a body roll while you read that last line.)
So I am doing a makeover series that is reminiscent of Jenny, to show off their hot new look. Catchy JJ title and all…
You Left Me In The Dust, Now Living With Me Is A Must!
Up first is this set of chairs. They were r.o.u.g.h. I bought them at a consignment store for $40 and was almost blinded by the quilted country blue fabric that had crusty dust all over it.
Delightful no?
I started by taking off the fabric and old foam. If the foam cushions are in good shape they can totally be reused. I was worried about leprosy, so I decided to biohazard them.
Trace the seat shape on a new piece of foam (these are available at Joann’s for $5 with a coupon)
I am seriously obsessed with the perfect bright mustard linen that I found to recover it with! (I also scored this at Joann’s)
To recover your seat, you are going to make a seat sandwich. Lay your fabric down first. Then lay down a layer of batting, then your foam, and lastly your wooden seat.
I would love to just take a minute and note the choppiness of foam edges. I couldn’t find scissors ANYWHERE. In my drawn out and diligent search I threw up a prayer asking for any scissors at all. Well, the man upstairs has a sense of humor because the only pair that I could find was kiddie safety scissors. Which do in fact work better than a steak knife. In case you were wondering…
Each chair is different, but basically you are going to pull your fabric tight and staple. Make folds instead of bunches and you will be such a professional.
Flip it over and screw it to your seat base!
That chair is sexy. Sometimes horrible fabric and gangrene is hard to look past, I get it. But I am pretty excited that no one could pull the trigger and buy this baby.
**Check out the other projects in this series here!
Um…Best news ever. This series isn’t going away any time soon, I have a few more Hoard Sale cast asides that are DYING to show off their sparkle! Jenny! Jenny!
It is my favorite time of the season, Color Challenge time!!
This quarter we decided to embrace the essence of summer and go with yellow (but of course my darling!)
Check out everyone’s projects below, there is just so much goodness to discover!
Thanks for the Jenny Jones flashbacks 🙂
That chair is SO cool now! It looks so MODERN…and I love that mustard fabric! We need a good thrift store around here. Better yet, I think the need a Hoard Sale, Texas Edition!
And Jenny Jones!!! Haven’t thought about her in a while! 😉
That looks like a well made chair, thankfully you could see past the material. The best thing for cutting foam is an electric carving knife (my dad used to use one for the Christmas turkey), it cuts through foam like butter!
That fabric shows the beautiful lines of the chair. I TOTALLY missed them with the dusty fabric.
I love the new chair! Great job.
I’ve got the best idea…You can send me one of those chairs for free! See? Told you it was a good idea. Anyway, I’m major crushing on those chairs. I like to think that if I had been at your horde sale I wouldn’t have passed those beauties over… but you never know. Good job lady.
Ha! Hilarious series. I’m about to reupholster a bench… I may have to use that mustard yellow – love it!
Awesome rescue Mandi!! Quick tip: the best way I’ve found to cut foam… is with an electric knife! Ya know, the kind you use to carve Thanksgiving turkey? Yup, that one. Give it a try!
It looks like you had to re-glue the top too? You mention a ‘set’ of chairs so just wondering how many you got for the $40? I absolutely adore that mustard linen! I have a set of 4 MCM chairs that have very similar fabric to your before shot (why, people, why??) and I am thinking that mustard linen would be perfect for them. I have been holding off reupholstering them because I just couldn’t decide on the fabric.
WOW! So Mandilicous!! I wish we had good trhifting in El Paso : (
That chair looks awesome!
Love the color of the fabric you used! Makeover episodes were always my favorite and I know your series will be just as entertaining!
How did you do the top though? Seat covers are easy, but the top is the tricky part.
Every time I hear about an outside-of-California thrift store find, it just makes me want to pack my bags and move. Sigh.
I LOVE that evolution/Skelton print and the touch of accidental color is perfect!
So. Good.
How do you finish the back side of the seat back and reattach it??
It looks great.
Super cool chair…nice work! Unrelated: have you posted about your window shutters? They look really cool and I’m assuming you did them yourself? Would love to see a DIY. Thanks!
Mandi, I LOVE this idea. Go through a makeover and see all your old friends, ya? 😉 You’re hilarious, and this chair is gorgeous! Wish I could have made it to the haul!
Love, love love that you used safety scissors! Any DIY project I do is usually doomed from the beginning because I’m not the most organized planner. I typically have 3 of the 5 items I need to do anything and yet I start anyway! There may be hope for me yet and its encourging to see I’m not alone with safety scissors in my toolbox!
So clever and funny 🙂 … Chair looks great now!!
Oh my gosh I love the color of the chairs! I wouldn’t have picked it out originally but I love the way it turned out!
Ohh, I love it! The mustard color is one of my favorites. I feared leprosy too when I was disassembling an old piano stool I bought from an auction. Still shuddering.
That looks beautiful. It is indeed a sexy chair. What were they thinking with that quilted fabric?? Love the skeleton picture, too!
Awe girrrrrrl, you gotta get yourself an electric carving knife next time you are at the thrift store! They cut through foam like butta 😉 Love the mustard chair! I bet every person who passed it up is kicking them self right now.
That chair really pops, I love it! Would you say that the upholstery job could be tackled by a first timer?
Oh gosh Jenny Jones! What a blast from the past! Love the chair and meeting you in person!
So I’ve been re-watching old Mad Med episodes with the bf and we just watched season 2 and they have that EXACT chair – mustard yellow fabric and all! It’s actually a dining room set but I about died when I saw your reno, I instantly remembered it from the show. I think the episode is called The Gold Violin. Nice job!
I bet whoever passed it over is regretting that decision right about now! You’re awesome chica!
This chair is very Biedermier like. I haven’t been getting your emails. From about the 4th of July to the 17th.
Thanks Ann! I was having a problem with mailchimp but I think we have it figured out now! Will you let me know if there is still a problem?
Xo
M