I came across an old Italian dining chair in miserable condition. Although it has been in the family for more than 50 years, we never used it much. After we brought it to Austria it was mostly violated by our cat who loved to misuse it as a scratch post.
So I took it, got rid of the straw seat cover and sanded the chair’s frame to get rid of the old varnish. I then applied a white base coat and two coats of paint. I chose dove blue because it matched the fabric I bought for the seat and also suited the chair’s style.
The most challenging part was the seat cover. I had to build a wooden seating surface and then cut a foam cushion into shape. The foam was glued to the wooden seat board and then covered with the fabric, a process where my dad helped me. It’s much easier to do this part with a skilled partner as someone has to stretch the fabric and the other has to staple it to the wooden frame of the seat.
I feared that the foam plus fabric would end up to tight for the chair’s frame but it actually fit like a glove, which made the whole process infinetly more rewarding. The chair will now be a central eye-cather in my new apartment I’m currently furnishing.
