Second Hand Furniture can be GREAT for re-purposing!

For a few Saturdays, we have been spending most of our time cleaning out the garage. What a pain! We had to make decisions on which projects to keep and which ones to ditch. This makes me quite sad, but we have a large Halloween party every year, and part of it takes place in the garage. So, needless to say, we must de-clutter for the event.

Acquiring second hand furniture is one of my favorite activities. I gather the items from friends, yard sales, thrift stores, out of dumpsters, or even off the side of the road. Seeing a new vision in items definitely can be easy for me at times, and at others, the items sit in my garage screaming for my attention.

Among the pile of crap goodies were two chairs that looked like this:

I bought the second hand chairs at a yard sale awhile back, and I loved the design. I used two of the chairs for my dining table transformation, but I still had two others that were not in as good of shape. These two left-over chairs had holes in their basket weave area. I knew that I could possibly reupholster them somehow to cover up the misshapen basket weave, but my intentions have never materialized.

When I was pressured asked by the hubby to get rid of them, I instantly had to think of what I could do with them. I KNEW they could be made into something cool, and I was not willing to just throw them away.

In less than ten minutes, (with the help of my hubby and his saw) we had chopped the tops off to begin the transformation and to carry out my vision.

As soon as I ditched the idea of keeping them chairs, a new purpose came to me instantly! Re-purposing furniture is one of my favorite things! I decided they would be adorable, and CHEAP picture frames. We cut out the basket weave with a razor blade knife, and then Dan cut off the backs of the chairs. I then used a sander to get the remaining of the basket weave off the middle area.

It was a little challenging around the edges, but after changing to a lower grit sand paper, it came off like a charm.

Are you beginning to see my vision? This is what they looked like before I sprayed them black.

Of course I have ADORABLE kiddos to go in my new ADORABLE frames, so I sent the pictures over to Costco for printing. I bought two 12X18 prints, and my overall cost was less than $6.00.

I taped the prints onto the back of the frames.

 

I will be hanging these in my girls’ bedroom as soon as I get some hardware, but I couldn’t wait to show you how great these dining room chairs/now picture frames turned out!

 Aren’t my girls the cutest!?! I think so, but I am a little biased. 🙂

Sometimes a little pressure actually helps my creativity. I guess I work best under pressure. Do you?

Published on October 13, 2010

67 thoughts on “Second Hand Furniture can be GREAT for re-purposing!”

  2. That is just sooo cool! I would have never thought to use a broken chair for that. I have a broken chair from my dining set that we could not find a replacement for, but this gives me an idea of what to do with it. Thanks!

    Reply

  10. I LOVE this! You are so brilliant and have such vision. You have inspired me to start my own projects. I hope to post pics of some of them soon. Thank you for your blog and all of your creativity!!

    Reply

  17. These are beautiful! I had this exact table/chair set–sold them at a yard sale 🙁 BUT, I am still giggling over you and your hubby, while de-cluttering, pull out the saw and get to re-purposing! I believe that is the ONE way I could have talked my guy into getting involved–using his SAW! 🙂

    Reply

  18. I'm in love with those frames! What a creative way to use old chairs. Your girls are gorgeous, and the frames really compliment the pictures.

    My name is Allie, and I have loved looking at your wonderful creations, very inspiring. =)

    Reply

  19. LOVE THEM!! I must say that since I started reading your blog I have become more of a visionary person. You have totally helped me to see things for what they can become instead of what they are!!

    Reply

  25. Oh my, those have got to be the cutest frames ever. I would have never thought of that but glad you did because I am going chair shopping haha!! Thanks for sharing the idea.

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  26. i, sadly, passed up a chairs JUST like this at a thrift store today because of the broken basket weave…. i just may need to run back there tomorrow and snag it~ these are fabulous!

    Reply

  27. That's a great idea! I love the frames- I'm sure your little girls will feel so fancy to have frames like that! How are you going to hang them? Just with regular picture wire?

    Reply

  30. I thought you were going to say you turned the seat parts into a bench or a coffee table or something… your creative mind is GENIUS!! I LOVE THEM!!!! Amazing job!!! ;D

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  36. Seriously! You come up with the BEST ideas (and you have such the crafty husband)! I love that idea for a picture frame and everything else I've seen on your site! I've been following your blog for about a month and love it! Thanks for all the ideas!

    Reply

  39. That is AWESOME!! You are so inspirational to me. I love the way you see things. I am in the middle of making a table out of a door I found in the rafters of our garage…Yep…I'm pretty sure you and I would be best friends if we knew each other. =)

    Reply

  43. They turned out so good! I'm looking for inspiration for my bedroom walls and this idea might come in handy! Right now progress is slowly being made, but hopefully it'll pick up soon…

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  47. Awesome-I have the very same chairs that I inherited from my grandparents. My kids have been kinda rough on them tho'…and now I have a future goal for them (later on down the road). Cool!!!

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  50. These are darling! How on earth do you think of these wonderful ways to repurpose? I don't even dare pick paint for a wall and when I do it's never the color I wanted and doesn't look the way I envisioned it!

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  52. Darling!! I do have one question for you though, did you put glass in them, and if not how do you protect the pictures?
    I've been silently following your blog for a few months now and I love it all!

    Reply

  60. Wow!!! I am in love with these!!! I will be looking for chairs this weekend at garage and yard sales for sure!!! What a great way to get that high dollar look for next to nothing…perfect!

    LaKeta
    1luckeegirl.blogspot.com

    Reply

  61. Hello, I found this re purpose over at Roadkill Rescue, and had to come tell you how absolutely adorable those picture frames are! What an amazing idea! Thanks for sharing it with us!

    Reply

  63. While I was searching for chair upholster ideas and found your blog. This is genius idea and you are so creative! Now I want to look for some chairs like this. How are the pictures holding up without glass on front? What did you make with the bottom piece of the chair?

    Reply

  64. While I was searching for chair upholster ideas and found your blog. This is genius idea and you are so creative! Now I want to look for some chairs like this. How are the pictures holding up without glass on front? What did you make with the bottom piece of the chair?

    Reply

  65. These are absolutely amazing!! I can’t wait to try these!! Thank you for the wonderful idea, I can’t wait to do more!

    Reply
  66. Pingback: 15 Clever DIYs That Repurpose Old Chairs- A Cultivated Nest
  67. Pingback: 19 Fabulous Items Made From Old Chairs - The Mommy Mess

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