We all have unwanted furniture in our homes that have out stayed their welcome.
Some of it will end up in land fills and other pieces will be donated.
But why not choose the 3rd option?… Give your unwanted house guest a face lift!
Last week I participated in a redesign project at the Calgary Home & Design Show.
In conjunction with Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta and its affiliated ReStore (where I found the chair), and Rust-Oleum paints, I was able to show that you can easily take unloved furniture and breathe new life into it.
Here’s how I did it.
The Chair:
This chair, which looks like a late 90’s office waiting room chair, was hand selected for me.
For the next 2 months it sat in my house where I wondered every day how the heck I’d make it… Well… Fabulous!
Then it hit me!
“Growing up an 80’s child I had a love for Transformers and Legos. The toys back then, although simple, were not always as they appeared. I’ve taken this drab chair, freshened it with colour and transformed it to reveal its secret identity!”
But what about the heavy blue fabric?
It was time to recover it with a bold and modern houndstooth.
And the base?
White at first, but that was playing it too safe and I needed it to pop…
I needed neon!
Thanks to the vibrant colours from Rust-Oleum , the 80’s were back and I was as happy as a Carebear giving a lengthy stare!
The transformation was complete. I had turned a solo, un-wanted chair into an artful ottoman!
Then it was off to the Home & Design Show where it shared the spotlight with other redesigns.
Over the weekend, visitors ogled the rehab and were even able to bid on my ottoman with the proceeds going to charity.
It was a fun and relatively easy concept I came up with.
It taught me that with a little bit of paint and a lot of imagination, beauty can be re injected into out-of-date furniture.
So next time you have a great redesign idea, head to a ReStore near you and show some love for the unwanted and a great cause.
Mr. Fab oman
