Caned High Back Chair Makeover

I am so excited to share this caned high back chair makeover with you all! Let me start by telling you a little story of how this chair became mine.  I attended an auction two years ago where there was a ton of furniture and lots of mismatched chairs that didn’t look like they were in great condition.  The chairs were the last thing to be auctioned off and there were probably only about 15 people still around.   The auctioneer was basically giving them away.   I told my husband, “If he gets down to one dollar I’m going to buy one of those chairs and try to give it a makeover.” Sure enough-“one dollar, one dollar…going once”.  Yes, I got it for ONE DOLLAR!

I have to tell you all how much I love shopping at auctions for vintage finds for my home.  Seriously- auctions are the absolute BEST place to find quality furniture, antiques and rustic decor.  Want a FREE auction guide ebook?  Click here to grab your copy! 

My father-in-law took one look at this chair and said the caned back was worth at least $50. The chair was really in fantastic shape except for the seat.  The cushion was an ugly mustard yellow color and there was no support.  In fact, on the underside of the seat were a few metal squiggle bars (I’m sure they have a fancy name in the upholstery world) then the cushion directly on top.  So when you sat down, you could feel those metal bars.

I bought a beautiful piece of fabric that I knew I wanted to use for the seat. I also knew I wanted to paint the chair white.  The chair and the lovely fabric sat in my garage…for two years.  Side note- I found out the weekend after I bought this $1 chair that I was pregnant with my second son.

PIN IT ⇓

Fast forward to last month; I took the seat off and had my father-in-law cut a piece of plywood to fit the seat. I also bought a piece of foam from Home Depot.  I had planned on going to a fabric store to buy the foam, but read a recommendation to purchase foam from Home Depot.  This was definitely the most cost effective way to go.  The piece of foam was only five dollars at Home Depot (if I had purchased the same foam in the fabric store, it would have cost double).  I traced the seat onto the foam and cut it to match then glued the foam to the seat.  I then covered the foam seat with fabric, and stapled the fabric to the underside of the plywood.

Once the seat was ready to go, I focused on making the chair white. I used two coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White.  I then distressed the chair with vinegar using this technique.  Finally, I used Annie Sloan clear wax to finish the chair.

This is how the chair looks now. I am so impressed with how gorgeous it looks.  Since I was working in my garage, my next door neighbor stopped by to gush over how beautiful it looked.

Added bonus- this chair is SO COMFORTABLE!!!  I’m sitting in it now while on my laptop and it is just perfect all around.  I’d say this was the best $1 investment I have made in a long time!!