You know when you find something that talks to you and keeps talking to you and keeps talking… you have to give it a closer look and see what it has to say. That is what I did with the darling patio chairs. And of course, I had an idea for a little bit of a different look and decided to give them a bit of a ‘French country cottage’ style refresh.
Vintage Patio Chairs
Can you ever have too many chairs? Well, debatable I suppose. Since chairs talk to me all.the.time. – I am in the always bringing another home camp. My husband? Not so much. But these cuties were just waiting for someone to bring them home and so- they hopped right into the car.
What I love
I love the details and charm they have just as they were found. The chippy old paint and iron showing through and the sweet pattern on the backs. They were an instant love. The fabric is SO cute. I originally thought it was the original old nubby barkcloth fabric and was so excited. Upon closer inspection, we noticed that this tropical fabric was actually added over another previous fabric and it is actually more stretchy and thin rather than thick like a barkcloth so I am not 100% sure that it is barkcloth or when exactly this one was added. Either way, it wasn’t going anywhere! I love the look it has with the birds on it and the charm it brings so it was staying.
A quick change was needed for a specific styling we bought these for was on the agenda. So, I left the tropical fabric in place and plan to investigate what is underneath it at a later date- I am super excited to see what it looks like.
Sweet Floral Vintage Patio Chairs
I grabbed a few options from my fabric stash and after finding the one- got to work.
It took just about 5 minutes for each chair to get a new look. I simply removed the seats, cut the fabric to fit & stapled it in place (over the other fabric) and then put them back on to the chairs.
Voila.
What do you think of how this quick update with sweet floral fabric? Do you like how these chairs turned out? Stay tuned for a snap of them in the garden soon and what I find underneath that tropical themed fabric too. For more DIY – you might enjoy this post about a vintage table refresh HERE.
I’m like you, never can pass up a good chair. I would have left the original Bark cloth and not recovered, but love that you left the fabric on the chairs for a future owner to decide which worked better for their decor.
I am so curious to pull the fabric off a bit to be honest- it isn’t original to the chairs, there is at least one layer underneath that. I think the tropical print is so cute! I am not 100% on it being barkcloth- which is what I thought it was at first glance too. It is a bit stretchy and not nubby like other old barkcloth I have but either way, it stayed. It just didn’t fit the styling this time around but you might see it pop up here soon. 🙂
I have a set of iron chairs and table. You have given me a wonderful idea for new fabric on them.
Old patio chairs are so fun!
Hmmm…i just pucked up “chippy, iron, bistro chairs”…a cushion like yours…just might be on my horizon…franki
Have fun!
Did you do something to the chippy paint to keep the rust from getting on clothes?
VEry cute chairs!
I didn’t. They are pretty stable rust wise- I haven’t seen any chipping or flaking. But it could be that the previous owner sealed them.
Your fabric is pretty but I would have left the tropical fabric on that chair.
The tropical fabric is pretty too- just wasn’t fitting the styling for the moment. It is underneath the floral fabric I just added so it didn’t go anywhere.I am so curious to pull off the tropical fabric a bit and see what is underneath that and original to the chairs at some point too
I love what you did with these chairs! I have two ice cream parlor metal chairs that are currently black with wooden seats. You have inspired me to do something new with them.
Love the chairs…can’t wait to see them in your garden room!
I love love love those chairs!
good job Courtney! wonderful choice of new material. I know you already owned the material but I’ve always loved the material that you choose for things. where do you find it?
this has been in my stash for years- Waverly fabric originally found at Walmart