This blog is all about bargains, upcycling, fixing things, adding value, shopping, discounts, and op shop finds.
Last year I enrolled in an upholstery course and took two chairs I was given for free and turned them into funky furniture which I sold to cover my costs. I bought the fabric, in two pieces, from a fabric auction for $20. The material didn’t quite cover the back of the chairs, so I found some material in a remnants bin at a local curtain shop for $1 a piece, and some hessian like fabric to cover the bottom, also at $1 a piece.
I also bought materials like foam and webbing during the class which added up to about $50 and and the course itself cost about $150. I had to drive to get to class so a bit of petrol costs got factored in, so I’d say selling the chairs for $150 each was a good trade. One of the real costs was my own time, and I didn’t really factor that in. For example I sanded back the arms and revarnished them, and I don’t have a workroom, so had to wait for a reasonably sunny day to do that outside.
Here are the before and after shots:
Before
After: front of chair one
After: back of chair one
After: front of chair two
After: back of chair two
So you can see that they both look pretty awesome, but I was so embarrassed by my own handiwork that when the purchaser came to my house to pick them up, I said a friend had upholstered them.
The more I look at these photos though, the prouder I am. And today I enrolled in another upholstery course. I’ve already bought the chair, the fabric and have set aside some time – so keep an eye out for another post sometime next year when I show you the finished product.
retroquo 