During the summer I managed to score the deal of the century. My pal, Roxy of Society Social fame was selling a couple of chairs from her showroom. They had been used in photo shoots and she was looking to free up some space so I was able to pick up a Darlington chair for a song.

Here is what it looked like when I bought it home:

It was already designer friendly, but not at all what I needed for my space. I knew with a couple of quick tweaks and a trip to True Value, I could make it perfect for me.

Out with the mint green and in with this golden orange/yellow shade:

Before you go spray crazy make sure to give your piece of a furniture a quick run with some sand paper and then wipe off the dust and make sure your piece is dry before you start spraying.

My number one tip for spray painting is simply to make sure you have a light hand. I used to spray way too heavy and close,so I would always get bubbles. Jon saw me one day and noticed right away that my technique was off. Lots of light coats work the best and make sure to be around 9″ away from what you are spraying.

Once the coats were dry I let the chair cure for 48 hours and then sprayed on a high gloss coat to protect it even further.

While the top coat was curing I got to work on recovering the seat. The interesting thing about this seat cover is that originally this chair was only meant to have a caned bottom. The previous owner then had a piece of plywood cut to size, added foam and then simply screwed into the seat of the chair. Voila a padded seat vs. a caned seat.

Since the original fabric was in good shape I didn’t need to remove it but simply used my electric stapler to attach my new fabric. I like to staple down all of the sides first and place staples close to the edge for a tight fit.

After all the sides are down I tackle the corners.

You can either take the extra fabric in the corner and just fan it down and staple really well:

Or follow these steps and get finished corners this way:

Once you are done stapling the fabric, simply screw it back into place and enjoy it in it’s new home!

Close up of fabric:

The perfect chair for this office nook.

I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.