Instructions for restoring chairs at home with your own hands
Antique furniture is reminiscent of the past, has a different design from modern Art Nouveau. Peeling paint, worn upholstery, loose legs - how to use such products? You can give them to repair, which will be expensive. At the same time, it is not difficult to restore the chairs, which anyone can do. The work does not require the qualifications of a cabinetmaker. It is enough to carefully and carefully perform simple operations, having a set of tools and materials at hand.
Benefits
Do-it-yourself repair and restoration of chairs will cost much less than renovation in professional workshops. The old chairs are made of natural wood.
Chair components requiring refurbishment:
- destruction of the coloring layer of the surface;
- scratches, cracks;
- violation of attachments;
- casing failure, soft liner.
In addition to the financial aspect of the matter, it is important to be able to do the restoration with your own hands, showing yourself in a new quality: a carpenter and a designer.
Improved appearance
To give the old chair an attractive appearance, several restoration methods are used:
- repainting, rolling;
- repair of elements or the entire frame;
- transport padding;
- decoration with various materials.
The whole structure, including the backrest and the seat (without upholstery), can be upholstered in a natural wood stain or painted in bright colours. Soft seats, chair backs are upholstered with a new material. Restoring a chair is more difficult than a chair. A high quality tow with a full structural analysis is required, along with the replacement of the backrest and seat upholstery. The restoration of leather articles is within the reach of professionals.
It is not difficult to restore an old cracked stool. The restoration consists of reinforcing the legs, the seat and repainting all the elements.
New elements in the decor
Chairs of the Soviet period were devoid of any special decor. Modern materials and technological methods allow you to restore chairs using:
- tapestry;
- herd;
- cutting;
- cracks;
- sesal;
- shabby chic.
When reconstructing, it is possible to use any color palette of paints, upholstery.
Minimum costs
The restoration of chairs does not require large expenditures due to the availability of the prices of finishing materials and the insignificance of the volume.
How to restore with your own hands
To carry out the restoration of chairs, you need to prepare tools and materials. Which exactly depends on the idea of restoration repair.
Tools and materials
Wooden products are processed with special compounds and tools.
Quick-drying varnish
For wooden surfaces, polyurethane varnishes resistant to humidity, chemical and mechanical stresses are used.
Dye
For the restoration of chairs, enamels are used:
- Acrylic. They create a durable and elastic coating that retains its properties for 3 years. The painted surface does not fade in the sun, does not lend itself to abrasion, is easy to clean, dries in 24 hours.
- Alkyd, with varnish content. Drying speed - 2-3 days. The treated surface is protected from rotting, resistant to water, chemicals, abrasion.
- Polyurethane. They form a protective layer that protects the wood from moisture, scratches and chemical attack for a long time. A solvent must be used before use.
The most economical option for staining when restoring chairs is the use of acrylic enamels. The good quality of the coating is associated with a low price and the ability to combine with color.
Upholstery fabric
Before decorating old chairs with new fabric, they should be repaired and painted so that the updated upholstery does not look dissonant against the background of dull paint and loose legs.
Tapestry
For the upholstery of the chairs, a light, single-sided upholstery is used. Advantages of the fabric:
- high wear resistance;
- decorativeness;
- sustainability.
The quality of the tapestries is determined by the method of manufacture: weaving 2 or 3 layers from natural and artificial fibers. The fabric does not crease.
Herd
Floc is a pile material obtained by spraying artificial or natural raw materials onto a dense base. The soft, wrinkle-resistant fabric is water-repellent, breathable and easy to clean.
Defaults:
- electrifying, attracting dust;
- destroyed when processing alcohol-containing liquids;
- some varieties wrinkle.
Flock is used as upholstery:
- blended (nylon dusting, base - cotton with synthetic);
- polyamide;
- polyester.
The mixed herd has the best qualities.
Carpet
The carpet is a material woven from natural fibers.
Advantages of upholstery with carpet during restoration:
- wear resistance;
- candy;
- breathability;
- ease of care;
- not exposed to mites.
The downside is the "love" of cats to sharpen their claws on it.
Rubber
When choosing a spacer when restoring, you should pay attention to:
- by thickness;
- density;
- strength;
- elasticity.
The seat foam rubber should have a thickness of 3-5 centimeters, increased rigidity and density. For chairs, foam rubber HL, EL is used. Density and compression ratio are indicated by adjacent numbers.
The most requested marking is 2536, which means a density of 25 kilograms/cubic meter; resistance to deformation - 3.6 kPa.
Plywood
Plywood is a multi-layered material made of natural wood veneer. When replacing the seat during restoration, a plywood sheet with a thickness of 3-4 millimeters is used.
Sandpaper
Medium grit sandpaper is used for restoration.
Metal washers and bolts
Carbon steel furniture bolts can be zinc plated, chrome plated. The set includes washers and nuts.
springs
The replacement of the springs of the old chairs during the restoration must correspond to the original version: flat snake, bonnet.
Scissors
For cutting upholstery and foam rubber, you will need tailor's scissors, made of special steel, with a special shape and with a sharpening angle.
Roulette
The small dimensions of the structural materials allow the use of a metal tape measure up to 1 meter when restoring.
Hacksaw for wood
The classic hacksaw of a standard form allows you to make cuts in the longitudinal and transverse directions. A hacksaw with hacksaw may be needed to cut grooves. The tooth pitch is 3.0 to 3.5 millimeters. A jigsaw is used for curved cutting of plywood.
Screwdriver
A hand-held power tool will allow you to quickly and efficiently tighten the fastening hardware using a special attachment.
Screwdriver
In inconvenient places for tightening screws, self-tapping screws, a screwdriver of the appropriate diameter is used.
Reinforcement bolts
If there are cracks, chips, they must be repaired using wedges or putty.
Seat replacement at home
A frayed seat is replaced in stages. For starters, they free it from worn-out, foam-rubber cushioning elements.
Cut a piece of plywood to size
A template is made along the old contour. Transferred to a new piece of plywood and cut with a jigsaw. Clean the ends with sandpaper.
foam base sticker
Foam rubber is glued to the base with an overlap of 3-4 centimeters. The corners are aligned with the contour of the seat.
Plywood fasteners
Secure the plywood around the perimeter.
Stretch the upholstery
Tightening the base with foam rubber with an overlap of 4-5 centimeters on the underside with alignment in the corners. The tension is either along the outer contour of the seat or along the perimeter of the seat inward.
Definitive consolidation
Using a furniture stapler and staples, secure the upholstery around the entire perimeter.
Decoration
There are different ways to decorate the seat and back.
Dyeing
The fastest way to restore is staining. The prepared surface of the entire structure is primed. The paint is applied in 2 layers.
Lamination
A two-layer varnish is called lamination. The chair can have the color of natural wood, any color scheme.
Cutting
Decoupage is the application of applications to a hard seat, backrest. The image is cut out of paper and glued to the surface.
The final fixing is done with a coat of varnish.
Tape or film
Adhesive tape and film have different textures:
- polymer;
- paper;
- aluminum foil.
Thanks to her, the chairs acquire a durable beautiful finish.
art painting
Using a pattern or drawing skill, the painted wooden elements are patterned and varnished twice.
Crack
To give the chair an antique look, the technique of artificial aging of the paint layer is used. With the help of special varnishes, coloring agents, cracking of the selected thickness is simulated.
Plating
The veneer can be glued to the seat and back of the chairs in a geometric pattern. Sliced or peeled veneer is used for finishing, up to 1 millimeter thick.
Parts update
You can refresh the product by adding sconces to its design, made of materials that are unusual for furniture.
Sisal
Agave plant fiber is sold in craft stores as ropes of various thicknesses, slabs and skeins. Using PVA glue, they create an image. After drying, it is transferred to a chair and varnished.
Wool thread
Woolen threads are used for decoration in the same way as sisal.They are less durable and absorb moisture. It is better to create original compositions on the reverse side.
shabby-chic
Fashion style, decoration, the essence of which is the creation of the illusion of antiquity. All furniture should be maintained in this style. Shabby chic means coloring in pastel colors with traces of several layers, blurred images of angels and roses.
Elimination of faults
There may be scratches on the wooden parts of the chairs that need to be repaired before painting.
Small superficial scratches
Small scratches will be invisible if treated with iodine solution.
Small cracks
Cracks up to 1 millimeter are rubbed with a filler compatible with subsequent staining.
deep scratches
The deep crack is closed with a putty of turpentine and beeswax (3:4).
Replacement of broken parts
The shavings of the legs, back and frame are glued with wood glue, following the instructions in the manual.
Restoration of frames
A frame that has been sharpened by a bug can be repaired with a putty. The resulting cavities are cleaned, filled with a wood treatment agent. After drying, they are sanded.
Features of working with Viennese chairs
The old chairs to be restored are completely disassembled, with numbering of the parts.
Tips & Tricks
When restoring old chairs, you must respect:
- color combination of upholstery and frame tone;
- use of foam rubber as a filler;
- uniform style for similar chairs.
In order for the varnish and the enamel layer to be of high quality, careful grinding is necessary, applying 2-3 layers after complete drying.
Master classes
Chair reconstruction involves several steps:
- Preparatory. Selection of tools, purchase of materials.
- The seat is removed from the frame, released from the upholstery, upholstery.
- Structural members are examined and repaired.
- Putty is applied. After drying, the surface is smoothed with sandpaper.
- The frame is painted in stages: twice the legs and the lower part; 2 times back and top contour.
- A seat is cut from plywood according to a template.
- Foam rubber is cut according to the template with a tolerance of 3-4 centimeters.
- Foam rubber is glued to the base.
- The upholstery fabric is stretched over the base with foam rubber, with an overlap on the underside of 4-5 centimeters. Taken by a stapler.
- The padding is fixed around the entire perimeter.
- The finished seat is inserted into the frame.
The next stage is started after the putty, adhesives, paint, varnish have completely dried.