Dining Room Chairs: From Bland to Boho

These dining room chairs were oh so vanilla.

Vanilla may be the most popular ice cream in terms of sales in the U.S., but it makes for some pretty boring chairs. But for $30 total, this was a deal I couldn’t pass up! In celebration of National Ice Cream Day (July 17), let’s put the cherry on top of this outdated set.

Scoop One: (Dis)Assembling the Ingredients

These chairs were covered in food stains and crayon marks from toddlers. My first step was to separate the seats from the frames and give the spaghetti-splattered wood a good wash.

Scoop Two: Prepping the Nuts (& Bolts)

For repairs, I removed the dangling broken arms from the two captain’s chairs. (What were those kids up to?) Then I disguised the holes left behind with furniture plugs and wood filler. Once sanded and painted, these spots will be unnoticeable. I also tightened the bolts on several loose legs.

Scoop Three: Choosing a Flavor

After scuff-sanding the frames with 220-grit, I painted them with two coats of a much more palatable vanilla, “Vanilla Chai” from Farmhouse® Paint. This creamy white is similar to the original color, so no primer was necessary. Look how much better the legs appear now — not like ice cream dregs crystallized on the lip of the carton. I followed the paint with an application of Annie Sloan® furniture wax to protect the finish.

Scoop Four: Topping with Whipped Cream

After removing the existing boring fabric, I was pleased to learn the foam cores didn’t need to be replaced. Instead, I added a layer of batting for additional comfort, like a fluffy topping of whipped cream.

Scoop Five: Adding The Sauce

I covered each cushion with new fabric. This denim-like print has a boho feel about it I thought would spice up these seats. I made sure the pattern placement was consistent from chair to chair so they’d all match.

Scoop Six: Dashing on Sprinkles

To add the final flourish, I created custom trim by sewing the fabric around cotton cording. Then I stapled the cording beneath the seats to fill the gap between the cushions and the frames. Lastly, I attached dust covers to the underside of the cushions before screwing them back into place.