I purchased this chippy blue chair many years ago at a garage sale.  I no longer remember what the seat looked like at the time, but I’m sure it was gross.  I’m also sure that the seller thought this thing was ready for the dumpster.  But you know me, I love that chippy factor.  And this one is authentically chippy.

 I recovered the seat with some pretty vintage pink and white fabric and for many years the chair lived in the ‘potting shed’, which became the ‘summer house’, which became the ‘photo cottage’ last year.  At that point, the chippy blue chair became homeless.  I’ve shuffled it around, but it hasn’t really found a spot.  I used it in the photo shoot for this dresser I painted a few months ago.

But it ultimately ended up stashed on the front porch, so during last weekend’s clean up I pulled it out of there.  Taking a close look at it, I realized it was really dirty from all of those years in the cottage out back.  It deserved some attention.  I pulled off the seat, removed the fabric covering and sent it to the washing machine.  Then, I vacuumed off the surface dirt.  Finally I pulled out the magic eraser, and that made all the difference.

Look how much dirt came off, ewwwww …

That was a brand new magic eraser when I started!  Are you now wondering how it is possible that 90% of the time I neglect to take photos of my process, but somehow I managed to get a photo of dirty water for you?  Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong with me either.

After cleaning the chair, I re-glued some of the cross pieces at the bottom that had come loose.  Finally, I wanted to add a little protection to the finish so I pulled out the sample of Fusion Beeswax Finish that Homestead House was kind enough to send to me.

I used some torn up flannel sheeting and rubbed the beeswax over the whole chair.  It added a little more sheen to the painted areas, and some much needed moisture to the chipped areas giving the chair a fresher look. I don’t know if you’ve used a magic eraser before, but it does tend to remove the shine from things.  So the beeswax added a really nice lustre back to the chair. This stuff is made with pure natural beeswax and hemp oil.  You could quite literally eat it because it is food safe quality, but honestly, it doesn’t look that appealing as a snack.  I did feel quite comfortable using it indoors with no ventilation though, and now my chippy chair has a little more protection from all that dirt.

Next came deciding what fabric to use on the seat.  I had a couple of options in my stash.  The first was this H & M tea towel.  I liked that it had a blue border, but once I fitted it to the seat, I realized that not much of the blue border would show.

 

Next I tried a dyed grain sack.

I liked this idea in theory, but when I put these together I felt like the richer color of the grain sack overpowered the pretty blue of the chair.  It’s not a bad combination, just not the one I wanted.

Finally I tried an H & M pillow cover that I had on hand.

Ding, ding, ding.  We have a winner folks!

I like how the blue pops with the white fabric on the seat.  And a bunch of french writing?  What’s not to love?

So, a tip for you here.  These 20″ x 20″ pillow covers from H & M are the perfect size for the average chair seat like this one.  They are a mere $5.95 each (plus shipping though).  The problem with H & M is that their inventory seems to go fast.  They still have this style, but only in pink and pale green.  Another style they have that would look great on some chairs is this one:

So, my chippy chair is cleaned up and re-covered and now I just need to decide what to do with it!

 I’m sure I will find a home for it somewhere, and it will probably make its way into future furniture photo shoots.  Wouldn’t it look great paired with a chippy desk?  Maybe I’ll keep it on the front porch for now, it certainly looks nice next to the white hutch.