I got a wild hair while working in the yard and decided to tackle a project that has been on the to-do list for awhile. A refresh on these charming chairs – and a beautiful cottage chair refresh that is easy and done in about a minute- even better.
Cottage style Chair Refresh
You might remember when I brought these charming old chairs home. I found them advertised as ‘log chairs’ on Marketplace up in Truckee and since we were on the way up there – I messaged about them and picked them up. I have just called them our branch chairs but technically they are a willow chair I believe. Once home, I knew I was going to tackle reupholstering the seats and had a lovely floral fabric in mind. But you know how projects go- they go on the back burner sometimes. Recently though, I brought them out for a magic wand refresh.
Tip: Shop marketplace in areas you will be traveling to or through – you might be surprised at what you score!
There were 4 chairs and they all had the same dark green fabric on the seats. Nothing wrong with the fabric other than it was dirty and had a bit of what looked like cat hair on them. Which has since been added too since the neighborhood cats love to plop on these chairs and take a siesta.
The green was simple and charming and I didn’t hate it. But I did have a look in mind that I was after.
Vintage Floral Fabric
I wanted to re-do these with a lovely old vintage floral fabric. And I have a big stash of vintage and new floral fabrics. I brought them out and went back and forth trying to decide which one to go with for a cottage chair refresh- and hesitated to cut into my favorites that I really wanted to use. But then I had a wild hair idea.
Vintage Style Pillow Cases
Another fabric I collect? Vintage and vintage look bed linens. know it is odd. But I love those old florals and the flat sheets are perfect as tablecloths. I thought just.maybe. the pillowcases would fit on the seats. And so I tried them.
Voila.
Instant cottage style charm. No cutting into my favorite vintage fabrics and look how darling these pillowcases look? Even better- these are new vintage look pillowcases and just $10 for a pair so they are not expensive to enjoy outdoors and affordable to replace if they do get ruined.
What do you think of how this turned out? I am in love with the floral fabric seats and in front of the camellia tree in bloom- even more sweet and charming. But a little thing… I only had 1 of these floral pillowcases on hand so I just might have another refresh coming in a different fabric to update them all the same. I will share the whole look when they are all done and styled.
You can see more of these chairs in this post HERE
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marti says
beautiful as always & truly clever💗
franki Parde says
Luv it…try with “old” sweaters, too…Carry On!!! franki
Diana says
You always find the best floral fabrics. I am going to get a couple of those pillowcases to add to my stash. I reallt enjoy a faded floral look. I can’t wait for the next update.
Karen B. says
I love them! I always enjoy improving something in my home when it turns out there’s an easy and pretty fix. The chairs are wonderful and look like they were made by a very good craftsman.
Karen B.