Craigslist Find...

I think I told you guys about a pair of hideous chairs I found on craigslist...french style arm chairs that my friend said looked like "hotel" chairs.  I think she's right....they may be from some cheap hotel somewhere, but they look awesome after their transformation!  I knew they had definite potential and they were cheaper...even after repainting, buying material and recovering, than anything I found on Ballard.  I found a lady to paint them in this great finish that I had been trying to figure out how to re-create.  She only charged me $100 to do both and by the time I would have sanded and bought paint and done it myself with three different paint colors plus a glaze, it would have cost me at least $50....so I was happy to pay the $100.  Here they are when I first bought them -

Before

The finish started out an orangy color...the material is a gross black and tan print.  Believe me....if you can't tell it....they were UGLY!

Mid-Way through the transformation

After the paint....you can see the finish is no longer orange...more of a distressed creamy vanilla with some brown underneath.  I took the material I planned to recover them in to show the painter and she even added a touch of blue in certain places in the chairs to help coordinate with the fabric.  At this stage, the original (hideous) material is still on, but they are starting to look much better...YAY! Here is a close up of some of the detail on the chair -

detail on the chair leg after painting

The next step was to recover.  I took them to a lady in Lebanon who charged me about half of what some of the local people charge.  The material is a blue/green paisley with some cream and tan in it.  The backs were recovered in a chenille cheetah print.  I love the way they turned out!!  Do you?!?  These are in the sitting area in my bedroom.

And btw...sorry I haven't posted lately...been busy MOVING IN and getting things settled.  I moved in 4 weeks ago and I am about done arranging and re-arranging.  I still have lots to do, but the house is looking good and I can't wait to share.  I'll be posting a room by room tour over the next few weeks...so check back.

Happy Weekend!