Before and After Decor

I bought a table and four chairs at a garage sale, but I wanted a pop of color in our kitchen dinette area. I thought I could jazz it up with some paint and new material for the seat cushions.


Here's what the chair looked like when I brought it home, kind of a yellowish dingy color and blah seat cushion. The chairs and table are solid wood covered with strips of narrow rattan. The set was made in the 1980s and is very sturdy and well constructed.


Gary removed the seat cushions for me and I thought about the color. Our house trim color is chocolate brown and I thought that would look good on the chair and I already had left over paint. I started to work.


Three coats of paint later, here's what I had. Lots of nooks and crannies to cover with the rattan. The walls of our kitchen are painted coral and I thought aqua would be a nice contrast against the wall color and the brown chair. I went to the fabric store and got this batik type print on sale, brought it home, washed and dried it to remove the sizing (makes it stiff) from the material.


Then I laid the material under the seat before cutting it out and tested it to be sure I had enough to go around the chair and allow for staples. Hey look, the batik material has the same swirl design as the original seat cover, now that is really strange. I didn't even notice that till now.


I actually pull the material up with my hand to be sure I have enough material. I've made the mistake of not doing that years ago and then had to purchase more material. We haven't actually stapled the material to the chairs yet. Gary found the air staple gun in the garage, but we need more staples. How's that for a before and after project.

By the way, check out the print on the wall in the first photo. I took some photos of flowers in my garden at my last house. I digitally manipulated the color on my computer. I then took the picture to a copy place and had them enlarged and mounted and stretched on canvas. We're loving these bright Florida colors in our home.

Now I have to paint the table. Ugh, that's going to be a project since it takes three coats of paint and each has to dry before the next. I better get to work. When I've finished and put the set in the kitchen I'll post another photo. Up next, who knows. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Thanks for reading.