Do you have kids heading off to college and need to furnish their dorm room? Know of someone setting up a new home or better yet, find yourself in need of a “Spring Spruce”? If so, how about MindFULLY seeing the chair in the corner of your family room in a new way or hitting your local re-sale shop for possibility!
In our area, Consignment Furniture shops are all the rage.
Check out the chairs below.
I would have walked right by them. Not my style. But one look through my friend Colette’s (www.thehandygirlfriend.com) eyes revealed well kept grandmother’s chairs, in great shape, with great bones. And the price? $45 a chair. I spend more than that on a manicure and pedicure.
She bought the chairs for one of her friends, took them to a local upholsterer and had them redone. Sometimes, if you buy fabric through the Upholsterer, you can get a discount. Our guy gives 35% off. And he does a great job. Notice the fabric covered buttons on the finished chairs.
How clever is that? And they look like new. Positioned in her friend’s living room, Colette made them look like they fit with style and purpose. And all in, for less than $500.
Below is a chair I did. My husband and I bought it over 20 years ago for our first apt at a garage sale. It was crushed yellow velvet with tan wood. Bluch. I painted the wood an iridescent silver and chose a traditional fabric with a sheen. The chair cost $75 and the fabric and labor, all in, was around $300. We still use it.
So, the next time you plop down in your old chair that smells like animal or displays arm stains where your elbows rest, check out my favorite idea site www.houzz.comThere you can find tons of ideas on fabric, styles and details. (Warning: When you make your fabric selection, make sure you get a sample of the fabric first. Approving it before they put it on your furniture can avoid unwanted surprises. A lesson I learned the hard way. Sometimes dye lots change or the texture isn’t what you really wanted.)
Have fun with this! Everyone deserves a chair to curl up in, why not make one you love? After all, for the cost of a day at the Spa, you can have a feeling of ease in your special chair everyday.
How have you MindFULLY breathed new life into something old? Let us know!
themindfullcreative.com 
This is great! I did this with our two living room chairs, and got exactly what I was wanting instead of having to settle for some showroom “kinda-fit.” I need to find a new upholsterer, though. I think I paid too much!