How to: Recover a Dining Chair

None of my dining chairs match.  They have all been salvaged from (usually) a trash heap in front of someone else's yard.  I took four very different chairs and using vivid paint colors and some oilcloth turned them into a bright and fun dining set.  Here's what I did:
Pick your chairs.  They need to be sturdy, but other than that you can work with almost anything.
For wooden chairs, sand them lightly,
 Next, wipe all of them down with a wet cloth and allow to dry completely.
 For metal chairs I use spray paint, and for wooden ones I used acrylic craft paint.  It's super cheap at any craft supply store, and comes in a huge variety of colors. I chose four different colors, but obviously you can have a more matched look by using the same color.
Next apply a couple of coats of polyurethane to protect them.
For the seats, I removed them and covered them in oilcloth which I found by the yard at Casa Ramirez on 19th in the Houston Heights.  I did not remove the original covering except in one case, where it was badly torn and would not have laid smooth under the oilcloth.  It's pretty easy to recover the seats if you take a look at them.  Some of them require a screwdriver, some a hammer, and some just pop out.  Fiddle with it long enough and you'll get it.  Fold the oilcloth tightly over the seat and secure with tacks on the bottom of the seat, and replace it.

Voila!

New life to old chairs.  

An Introduction to RePurposing (or....White Trash Decorating)

My absolute favorite thing to do in decorating is re-purposing things - using old things out of their original context to create a new and unexpected effect.  I have old suitcases stacked up for a coffee table, I use vintage aprons as curtains in the dining room, we had a friend of ours who is a welder make our kitchen cabinet handles out of spoons, and I have everything from old beer bottles to a bowling ball as garden art.  The best comments I get about my home are for the things I have re-purposed.  Case in point:  our entertainment center.  It is made from an old (1940's or 50's) Coldspot refrigerator.  I purchased it here locally, drained it of the liquid and took the coils off the back.  My brother in law brought a saw over to cut out the back so our TV would fit into it. It took considerable effort to get it home (it's HEAVY) and ready.   Also, it seemed a shame to kill a working fridge, but it has been worth it.  DVDs and videos are kept inside the "crisper" drawers, and jars of little collectibles (sea shells, rocks, buttons) are in the shelves.  I love to tell about the time we hired a plumber to come work on the toilet.  He was your typical good ol' boy.  He came in, did the work, then came out into the living area to write up his receipt before he saw the entertainment center.  "You put a TV in a refrigerator," he said, with no emotion whatsoever.  "Yes sir, we did," I said.  He sat silent for a moment, looking at the television.  Finally he said, again without emotion:  "I'm gonna tell my wife about that."  I'll never know if he liked it or didn't, but it got a response! I love to see how I can reuse things in a whimsical way, so old items become new again.  It saves money, recycles, and allows me to use my creativity all at the same time.  What have you re-purposed?

Our Coldspot entertainment center.