how to refurbish a chair, refurbishing a chair

You moved to a new city for the job/boy/school of your choice,which means you’ve got little more than 3 suitcases of clothes, a discount futon bought off Craigslist and 600 square feet of apartment to fill with no money left to furnish it. What do you do? Give some cast-aside chairs a fresh coat of paint for customized seating. Here are some tips for refurbishing a chair.

What you’ll need to refurbish your chair:
Chair
Rags
Water
Wood cleaning soap
Fine sandpaper
Screwdriver
Satin-finish paint
Paint brush

If the chair has a padded seat cushion, you’ll also need:
Staple gun or a hammer and upholstery tacks
Polyester batting
Fabric

Pick your poison…er, paint to refurbish your chair:
There are four main types of paint finishes: gloss, satin, eggshell and flat. Avoid eggshell or flat finishes when painting furniture, as these types of paint cannot be washed. Gloss is fine to use for a modern, shiny look, but for the most professional finish, stick with satin. It’s the furniture paint that stores like Pottery Barn prefer.

Black is the current trend in painted furniture—and the most forgiving color as it covers all marks and stains—but use any color that makes you smile. Keep in mind that you can make a pulled-together dining room set from all different chairs, just by painting them all the same shade and using coordinating fabric on the seats.

Get to painting:
1. If the chair you're refurbishing has a padded seat, flip the chair over and unscrew the seat with your screw driver. Set the seat aside for later.

2. Wash that chair with wood soap, rags and water because you don’t know where it’s been. Actually, you do know where it’s been: The garbage/attic/rummage sale. Better wash it twice.