Old furniture can often be transformed into new and appealing pieces. Sometimes all that is needed is a coat of paint, but reconstruction can allow a completely different personality to emerge. Transform an old wooden kitchen chair into a French country stool using minor woodworking skills, paint left over from previous projects and heavy-duty fabric.
My chair had an obvious problem. The seat was broken in two. Most likely your chair will not have this problem. I fixed mine by flipping the stool over and cutting two strips of wood to go across the bottom of the seat. The wood was attached with wood screws.
Things you will need:
Wooden kitchen chair
Jigsaw
Sandpaper
Old rag
Paint
Paintbrush
High-loft quilt batting
Scissors
Measuring tape
Staple gun
Stuffing
Heavy-duty fabric
Sewing machine
Iron
Straight pins
Embroidery needle
Crochet thread
Several large books
Step 1
Cut off the chair’s seat back using a jigsaw. Cut flush with the seat’s surface. You now have a stool. Lightly sand the the legs and rungs of the stool. This will give the surface a tooth to better accept the paint. Wipe away the sanding dust using an old rag.
Step 2
Paint the legs, rungs and the bottom side of the seat. The top of the seat can be left unpainted. In keeping with my French country vision, I chose a yellow-leather house paint color that I had picked up at a yard sale. Allow the paint to dry and repeat with additional coats until full coverage is achieved.
Step 3
Lay a single layer of high-loft quilt batting on your work surface. Turn the stool upside down and center the seat on the batting. Cut the batting around the stool at least 4 inches from the edge of the seat.
Step 4
Fold the batting over the edge of the seat. Staple the batting to the bottom of the seat, around the side and back edges. Turn the stool right side up. Insert stuffing between the quilt batting and the seat top, forming the cushion of the seat. Turn the stool over. Fold the remaining batting over the front edge of the seat and staple to the bottom. Trim off the excess batting edges next to the staples.
Step 5
Lay a single layer of fabric on your work surface with the wrong side facing up. I chose a striped upholstery fabric that resembled a grain sack. Any heavy fabric will do. If you are keeping with the French country look, you could also use a drop cloth, ticking fabric, duck cloth or canvas. Center the padded stool upside down on the fabric. Cut the fabric around the stool at least 4-inches from the edge of the seat.
Step 6
Fold the edges of the batting over the edge of the seat and staple to the bottom. Trim off the excess fabric edges next to the staples.
Step 7
Stand the stool right side up. Measure around the circumference of the seat. Cut a strip of fabric 6 1/2 inches wide by twice the circumference measurement. You may need to piece a couple of strips together to achieve this measurement. This is your stool’s ruffle. Fold the ruffle in half with the right sides facing and the short edges matching. Sew across the matching short edges. You now have a ring.
Step 8
Fold over one long edge of the ring a 1/4 inch to the wrong side of the fabric. Press the fold. Fold over another 1/4 inch and pin. Sew the pinned edge to complete the hem.
Step 9
Sew a running stitch around the unhemmed edge of the ring using an embroidery needle and crochet thread.
Step 10
Stack several large books on your work surface until the stack measures at least 7 inches tall. Turn the stool upside down and center it on the book stack.
Step 11
Turn the fabric ring wrong side out. Place the ring around the seat. Pull the crochet thread to gather the strip into a ruffle. Pull the thread until the ruffle is snug against the side edges of the seat. Adjust the ruffle until the gathers are evenly spaced around the seat. Staple the ruffle to the side edges of the seat. Turn the stool right side up and fold the ruffle down.