A Simple Chair Refresh

I have a big to-do list for things I want to get done for fall. During the summer I focus on spending time with my boys and so I haven’t really done much by way of crafting or DIY projects this summer. Now that they are back to school I am knocking some of these projects out. First up, making over my outdoor chair.

My aunt gave me this chair along with its pair and a little side table about 10 years ago. Unfortunately our old dog chewed up one of the chairs but this one has survived. It’s super comfortable and I love it but it didn’t really go with the color scheme of our outdoor spaces. I neglected to grab a picture of the chair for a decent before photo but here’s a picture of the side table so that you can see the hunter green color.

I started out the project by cleaning the chairs to make sure nothing would get in the way of painting them. Then I spray painted them.

For what it’s worth I felt like this spray paint worked well for this plastic wicker chair. It’s ok for outdoor stuff but this chair will be outside but also under the cover of the roof above our porch area.

After a few light coats I let the chair and table dry and then cure for about a week.

This chair is comfortable even without a cushion but it’s way better with a cushion. My old cushion was very worn out from me being lazy and leaving it outside too much over the last couple of years. I was much more careful the first few years with bringing it in but over time I would forget quite a lot. So I decided to rip the cover off and steal the batting to make a new cushion.

I laid the old fabric on top of my new fabric that I folded in half at the bottom of the picture. Then I cut around the basic shape. I wasn’t too fussy about being exact. I’m trying to get a bunch of stuff done remember so sometimes better done than perfect, right?

Then I clipped around the sides with my sewing clips. I sewed a half an inch from the edge along the sides and then left most of the top edge where there are no clips unsewn.

Then I turned it right side out.

Once it was right side out I folded the old cushion stuffing in half and slid it in through the opening in the top. Then I smoothed it out flat.

To close up the top I folded the ends in and clipped it shut with my sewing clips.

Finally I sewed across that opening to shut it. And that’s it!

It’s definitely not perfect but I love the refresh and how it’s giving this chair a little more life. The black is nice and neutral and it’s going to play nicely with the decor. I already got a little jump on things by swapping out the doormat for my fall one.

One project down, a bunch more to go! What are you working on lately?