Vintage Accent Chair: From Frightful to Delightful

This accent chair was everything you’d expect in the Halloween season.

Like a ghost of the past, it was full of shocks and groans and had that slightly creepy Victorian vibe. Time to bring this living room specter back from the grave!

The Ghoulish

The first step was to get that worn fabric off. I began and discovered — BOO! Not one, not two, but THREE layers of upholstery fabric. Sigh…

The Ghastly

What lurks in dark closets and under the bed is never good. And what was hiding under this fabric was just as scary — straw filling! VERY dusty (which is why I always wear a respirator when I take apart old upholstery). Needless to say, that was tossed and the chair got a thorough cleaning and vacuuming.

The Guts

The rattling skeleton of springs was salvageable, but all the cords attaching it to the frame were rotted. Here, I’ve started to retie with white polyester twine. The twine crisscrosses vertically and horizontally to secure the springs.

The Grisly

Next, it was time to dive in and start resurrecting this goner. I started by adding cotton fabric to the back for support and to the base to protect the foam from the springs. Looking better already! Then I added fresh 2-inch foam and batting over the seat and 1-inch foam and batting on the back.

The Gruesome

The chair frame was beaten up, so its best hope for a new life was with paint. I scuff-sanded the frame and then applied a couple of coats of Anne Sloan’s chalk paint in “Athenian Black.” After painting, I protected it with a coat of Annie Sloan’s clear furniture wax.

The Glimmer (of Hope)

I picked a bold print as a fun way to jolt this old chair out of the past. First, I stapled it over the seat. Then I added it to the front, slipping it behind the arms, which were screwed in place from the rear afterward.

Next, I covered the back. Here, you can see where the front fabric was wrapped to the back and secured with staples. The back fabric was folded under at the staple line (see far left corner) to hide the raw edges.

The last step was to cover the staple seam in the rear with custom-made double welt trim.