Stripped

I took a bunch of upholstery books out of the library to study up. They made me more and more anxious to do this project, and not in a good way. There are so many tools the authors say you need, so many "easy" projects you're supposed to tackle first.

Last night I decided to just dive in with tools I had at home and see how it went. First I pulled off the back piece by hand (it was just attached with upholstery tacks, so it came off pretty easily). There was piping tubing trim all the way around the chair, so that came off next. I could grip it with basic pliers to do the job.

Next I made a mistake and started attacking the staples on the seat. I should have done the front back of the chair instead since the seat fabric was applied last when it was upholstered. Anyways, I just sort of did them simultaneously, using pliers and a flat head screw drivers to get under the staples.

I won't say the process was easy, but it was rewarding. It took about an hour and half. I'm super pleased that the insides are in great shape -- smooth springs, nice lining, webbing is in tact. I was nervous about what I'd find under there! Luckily, these were the only scary things that came out of the chair:

• Straw wrapper
• Penny circa 1997
• Folded up frog sticker
• Safety pin
• Hole punch remains

I'm going to go to the fabric store this weekend and see what I find, then I'll pick out the paint. I'm going to leave the other chair in tact for now so I have a model to use when upholstering the first chair. Fingers crossed this makes it easier!