My love for second hand shopping is well-documented. When we moved into our new home, I vowed to decorate it with thrifted bargains wherever I could. The Second Hand Home Challenge was born, and I’ve been scouring the car boots, charity shops and auctions of Yorkshire ever since.
I found a dining table that fitted in the small alcove in our living room, but getting chairs to match proved a little more difficult. When my usual haunts let me down, I turned to eBay. I can often be found hunting down cut-price Topshop on eBay (I even wrote a guide to shopping on the site) but buying furniture online isn’t something I’ve attempted before. I wasn’t disappointed though – there are lots of people selling beautiful vintage pieces, and by searching for listings within 25 miles of my postcode I bagged a real bargain right on my doorstep.
1960s solid oak dining chairs, 99p for the two
These tired chairs were a steal at 99p for the two. I don’t mind a few scrapes and scratches (if anything, they add character), but I was less fond of the leather seats. So I got to work on a DIY project.
DIY – Upholstering Dining Chairs
You will need some pretty fabric (mine was £5 for a metre from eBay), scissors, a staple gun and staples
Pop the seat pad out of the chair and place it on your fabric. Cut round the seat, leaving plenty of excess fabric around each edge for folding.
Ta da! Easiest DIY ever.
I wiped down the frames, popped the seats back in and placed my new polka dot chairs around the table, ready for their first guests.
Total cost, £5.99.
Impressive they are marvellous finds, they go brilliantly with your table!
Hi Jen. Funnily enough we were revamping dining chairs today, too. You’ve done a great job. I like a few dinks and scratches on my furniture, too, you can’t beat living history. xxx
Gorgeous! Love the colour of your walls too!
http://www.charlottescollection.co.uk
I could so this. I could! Very tasteful fabric, m’dear.
They look great and if you change your decor you could start again and cover them with something else x
You done such a great job! I happen to think scratches and scraps help to add to the character too!
Sophie
x
Fab Jen, those look so good! Much better than a couple of souless Ikea chairs, inspiring tutorial. x
What a bargain, great job Jen!
I have my dining room chairs that need a little revamp so this has inspired me.
xx
the chairs look fab and go perfect with the table!
charl
I love it! We nicked some chairs from my in-laws and painted them a scruffy white colour and added our own cushion pads! Love these DIYs x
They look lovely, love the print :).
Sadie x
They look great – what a bargain!
Lovely chairs.
I love a bit of simple upcycling. They look great.
Katy xx
Absolutely gorgeous and so easy! I’ll be taking on some of tips when I move in with my boyfriend in September. X
Wow, they look fab – you did a great job upholstering them!
I liked the part about the chairs 🙂
This is just the sort of thing I do. You are right – it doesn’t matter a jot what it looks like underneath and chances are in a couple of years time you’ll change the fabric. 🙂 I love the beautiful colour of the wood and that you haven’t reached for the paint brush like so many people seem to do. Great bargain too and your house doesn’t look like an extension of Ikea like so many people in their 20s and 30s! 🙂
Lovely! And here I thought upholstering was only for pros. Your little corner set looks very chic.
Ali
good job! and 99p for BOTH!? Now that is madness.
What a bargain, and so nice!
I cannot wait to move house so I can refurnish it. We have a great auction house in my town and you can pick up bargains there. My mum has done courses in furniture upholstery so I use her expertise!
Caroline
xxx
What a bargain! Love that fabric. I can’t wait until I have a home of my own to decorate, I always see nice things but I just couldn’t fit it all in my little room! xxxx
Absolute bargain and they look fab! I usually check ebay for ‘pick up onlys’ nearby but I don’t have a car or anyone close by who would pick it up for me so I’ve often begged the seller to deliver it to me haha, the most awkward thing being a £5 metal filing cabinet that weighed an absolute ton! I’m really getting into this second hand home idea and your blog is always an inspiration 🙂
Rachelle xxx
inspiredbytheretired.blogspot.com
That’s such a good idea, and those chairs were so cheap!! I should definitely try Ebay next time I’m after furniture xx
These look awesome!!!!
Lovely! And nice fabric choice! 🙂
Well done on the chairs, they look great now, and what a bargain!
these look brilliant! i have a chair that i need to update and have been putting off for ages. i have showed this post to my boyfriend and ordered him to get on with it very soon xx
Ella @ Belle Vintage
These look ace for such a bargain! Wish I had somewhere to put a chair so I could do this!
Laura
asifby-magic.blogspot.com
You did an amazing job on these and they look great with the table. I love how this turned out!
http://foodfashionandflow.blogspot.com/
They look fabulous. I did a similar job with my £5 chair. You can read about here: http://theteapotexplodes.co.uk/2010/07/08/liberated-and-looking-lovely/
Oh wow, what a find! And can’t believe how simple recovering them was. They look gorgeous! I love the material you chose too. And they match the table so well!
They are great! I love second hand furniture, think our house will be full of it. It’s usually so much better quality too.
This is too cute <3 By the way, I really like your photography!
x
What a great find and they look even more fab with your DIY! 🙂
pinklittlebean blog
Clare x
God, your so creative. I feel mad lazy looking at your blog, your always doing something interesting and productive!
Great job!