Almost there!

Second coat of Liquid Gold. Foam block, calico seat cover and seat fabric in place.

Just the back and underside to do and there will be no more photos of chairs, I promise. (Until I find my next 'project' in the street!)

Blue chair then and now.

Cracking on!

Got a lot more done on the chair yesterday. Got all the tacks out except for the stubborn ones in the hard wood corners; sanded down the wood (my least favourite bit) and applied the Liquid Gold; cut the seat foam to size and put the wadding, the calico layer and the fabric on the front face of the chair back.

My new favourite person is the lady in the foam shop at Fiveways who advised me to put a bread knife in the freezer, have a glass of wine and then cut the foam with the bread knife. I had beer instead of wine but it still worked!

The Blue Chair in progress

On new year's day I found a decrepit chair in the street but decided that it would make a great upcycling project. The arms are really lovely and I'm sure it could be totally transformed.

It's been sitting there ever since and I've been putting off starting on it as once I start something I'll steam ahead until it's finished. Now I'm two days into taking it apart, it's much more complicated than any of the furniture I've tackle before.

Day one I began prising the old leather cover off but, typically of me, without the right tools. It was firmly held in place with lots of rusty old tacks and I was using a fish knife to prise them off! I'm sure it's no surprise to hear that I eventually had to stop as my fingers were cut to pieces and my hands bruised.

A day in between for recovery and the purchase of a proper tack removing tool, and I started again. Easier than it was, but still a tough job.

The leather of the seat and back just would not budge, I pulled it it tore and eventually the culprit popped out – this little plastic figure which had been wedged down the back of the charm between the timbers! (See how he's still gripping a piece of the seat foam in his determined hands!)

Now it's finally stripped down and the arms have had their first sanding. The next stage is a bit more sanding and them some Liquid Gold to restore the wood. Once that's dry I will be able to move on to the upholstery.

Why walk when you could run?

I think it's fair to say that the phrase "running before you can walk" was invented for me. After re-upholstering two vintage stools (requiring only common sense and a staple gun in the way of technical expertise) I decided to re-upholster a chair I found in the street.

Having stripped the grotty specimen of its previous covering using only a pair of tile nibblers (any upholsterers reading may have to go for a lie down in a dark room at this point), I discovered not foam underneath wool, horsehair, burlap and springs.

Ah, so we have jumped froward from novice to advanced in one go here, but I am a tenacious sort and it takes more than that to put me off.

Three excellent YouTube videos and a roll of wadding later, I was well on the way to a new chair. (And, so enthused with the project that I never even found the time to change from my vintage 1960s green paisley dress and glass necklaces into more "suitable" clothes.)

I used a single 1950s curtain I'd been saving for something special for a long time to cover the chair, I adore this fabric and I've never seen any print quite like it.

I'm thinking of getting a tattoo of the word "Crafts" over a pair of scissors and a staple gun rampant. Home brew or macramé next, do you think?

Every Girl Needs a Staple Gun

My first upholstery project. I will definitely be doing more of this; Julie is right: every girl needs a staple gun.