Old Chair to Clothes Rack

 Hello Readers. Is clothing storage a problem at your home? I never seem to have enough storage and I know I am not alone in this. I can't be. I have been wanting a small clothing rack of some kind in my bedroom and when I saw this chair, I knew exactly what I was going to do.  

 This old chair got a new life. 

That's me. I went for a walk and found this red chair. My neighbor didn't want it anymore and was going to throw it away, so it came home with me. 

I brought it home and stored it in my garage until I had time to deal with it. It was very dusty so I wanted to clean it. 

When I had time, I gave it a good wash down with liquid dish soap and water so it would be nice and clean.

 

I sprayed all over the chair from every angle I could. The chair was a little banged up. I like that old, beat-up look but the red paint would last longer if I sealed it with a clear coat to seal it. This can of spray "Clear Glaze" was in my basement so I used it. I always try to use what I have on hand. It splattered a little but it will dry clear. Don't worry, this will work out great.  

I used this Clear Glaze spray paint. It was easy to apply and worked like a charm.

 

I let this clear coat dry for 48 hours. It made a clear sheen all over the chair. No blobs are visible from the splattering can of spray I used. It was fully dry and ready to come back in the house. 

  

This empty corner is the perfect home for the red chair. I want to hang it up on the wall and use it as a clothes rack. I was thinking this would be a dressing corner with a mirror to help me get ready in the morning.

 

We started by marking where the chair should be hung. I wanted the hanging clothes to be in my eye line. I am pretty short so my eye line is lower than most peoples eye line. Choose a height that works for you. 

 

The chair might get heavy with clothing hung from it. That means we need to find a wall stud to hang it from. We used a stud-finder tool. And, the wall studs were not where we needed them to be. We marked where they were for later. 

 

We decided to use a small board to add strength. This doesn't blend in with the wall so we took a break to paint this board to blend into the wall. 

 

This craft paint matches my walls almost exactly. It is called "Antique White" but it matches my cheap builders grade off-white paint really well. I painted the board with this paint. It needed to dry overnight. We came back the next day to finish this project. 

 

Now that little board matches the wall much better. It is wide enough to overlap the studs by a couple inches on both sides. It still needed to be level to hang the chair properly. We checked the level and marked where to drill into it and the studs. 

 

We drilled through the board and into the stud. This will be stronger than just hanging the chair from the drywall. 

 

We did the same thing over on the left where that wall stud was. These were the only studs in this little corner so this is where it's going.

 

The top center part of the chair back touched the wall so that is where we drilled through the chair to screw it to the board and to the wall. That little board will distribute the weight to the two wall studs. It can hold so much more weight/clothes now. 

 

My chair was missing it's seat so I added a couple books to make a shelf. 

 

This is a great spot for putting an extra handbag or hat. 

 

The rails at the bottom of the chair is perfect for hanging clothes. I thought I could hang up my outfits for the week. If I set out my clothes for the next day or the next few days, I would be more likely to get ready, dressed, and out the door on time in the morning. It would also be great for jackets, hats, and bags by the door. Either way it can be a help to get you (Or your kids!) ready to go in the morning. 

 

I added a mirror next to the new clothes rack, to help me get dressed in the morning. I think if the outfits and the mirror are close by each other, it would help me get myself together on time in the mornings. I hope you can try this or it inspires another organization idea. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using Small Pieces of Fabric

 Hello Readers. If you sew at all you know fabric scraps tend to multiply quickly. Before you know it you have lots and lots of fabric scraps. (They are like rabbits!) What can you do with them? You can make so many beautiful things by piecing them together in a patchwork style. If they are a bit larger you can make throw pillows. I made Christmas stockings for my family out of sample pieces from the fabric store. Samples are usually 2' by 2'. At least all the ones I have are that size. I decided to use a couple pieces to change up 2 chairs at my house.

  These chairs have been around for a while. They were both items I have scavenged from a yard sale and the side of the street. I wanted to put the floral chair in my school room but it doesn't match. The room is blue and the chair is yellow floral print. 

The little stool was blue and white but it has been used so much it looks a little dingy. I want it in my room at my little desk. The stool is small and the desk is small, they will be perfect. My bedroom is yellow and red so it would be nice if I could find a piece of fabric to match. 

 

I went digging around my fabric closet.......

Most of this fabric came from my mother-in-law. She doesn't sew as much as she used to and after working at a fabric store for 20 years, she had stashed away a lot of fabric. She (And her coworkers.) always took the fabric samples that were going to the trash when the fabric was discontinued. Some of the fabric was extremely expensive and way out of my budget. I love working with the pieces.

I unscrewed the chair seat and used a staple gun to attach the "new" fabric on top of the old fabric. I like these kind of chairs because it is easy to recover them yourself at home. Goodbye floral print! Hello muted blues and greens.

 

The final result looks great and only took about 15 minutes per chair. (Not counting the amount of time it took me to reload the staple gun when it ran out of staples. It took much longer than it should have. I have been using the same staple gun for 20 years and I can never load it correctly the first time.)

 I love this rosy shade of red. And darker colors seem to hold up to kids and real life better than white ever does.

 

 The stool is perfect in my sewing room/office that is also my bedroom. It is a small corner office area and the stool doesn't take up too much room. This little desk is actually a sewing table that belonged to my Grandmom. There is a removable piece in the top and you can set a sewing machine in perfectly. I keep the piece in so I can use it as a desk. This is where I write these blog posts.

 

 

And one more idea for using small fabric pieces. Frame them. I loved this garden scene but only had a tiny scrap of this fabric. It is now at my desk.

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.