Somehow it’s been a month since my last post, but I am back on track and have so many great projects to share with you! Most recently, I have been working on 2 mahogany chairs that are part of a set of 8 (2 armchairs and 6 side chairs). My parents gave me 6 of the chairs (they still have 2 side chairs) about 10 years ago. They bought the set in the 1980s from an antique store outside Philadelphia. They were told the chairs had a lot of marks and dings because they had been used in the dining room of a boys’ school. My mom believes they date back to the 1920s or 1930s and are copies of antique chairs. They have carved stamps underneath that say “Made in Canada.”
I reupholstered 4 of the side chairs about 8 years ago and touched up some of the obvious blemishes. My mother reupholstered the armchairs at least 20 years ago and the fabric is a little tired and dated at this point. The finish, having been touched up too many times by various owners, was a combination of grim and stain and the grain of the wood was barely visible. This is what they looked like before I got started:
Armchairs Before
First things first, I unscrewed the seat cushions from the chairs and set them aside. The reupholstery step will come last. I already have the fabric ready and am pretty excited about it. Here’s a sneak peak:
My first notion was to paint the chairs white and antique them. These chairs live in our bedroom and I thought it might be a nice contrast to the dark wood we have elsewhere in the room. However, my husband (always the voice of reason when it comes to solid wood pieces) talked me out of it and I couldn’t be happier. So staining it is …
Next, I needed to sand the chairs and mend a large break in the back of one. Brian helped me apply wood glue and hold the break in place with clamps (who owns a large collection of clamps of varying sizes? My husband. I do not own clamps, nor did I know how to use them before my Clamps 101 Lesson). Here’s one of the chairs post-sand and mid-clamp:
While I’m waiting for the glue to dry, I will be sanding the rest of the second chair. Please check back in a few days to see the final project. I have a quick and easy staining process to share with you!
