Bergere Chairs on Steroids

I am the first to admit I have a chair fetish.  Things could be worse I suppose.  But it’s rare for me to find a chair, not love it and want to give it a warm, cozy home.  Here are a few examples of chair ‘befores and afters’.  Some live with me and some live elsewhere but all are equally loved and adored!!

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But it didn’t start out in life this cute!  Notice the fringe and silver tacks that bring this normally formal style of a chair into the fun zone!  How cute would it be to paint it glossy black and use a black and cream print — either a polka dot or stripe?  So much can be done with a little creativity and bravery.

Here’s how it started its’ life — a little stoddgy I think.  Could just be me.  🙂

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I got this little cutie at a consignment store for $75.  Wasn’t diggin’ the white wood so I got the spray stain from Michaels and went to work.  I had an ottoman that closely matched the chair so they got married and are living happily after after in my family room.

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This little number is one of my mom’s great finds.  We found it in Lakeland FL while visiting my little snoockums pie Ryder and his mama and dada.  Unfortunately with all the other stuff we found that trip we had to strap my mom to the roof to get everything home!

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I love this new style trim I’m using as welting.  It’s just a flat trim instead of cording for a trendier look.

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This sweet baby came from a model home furniture store years ago in CA.   It needed a good home.  I remade the cushions using this Calico Corners fabric during my country french phase.  But it needed a change.  Ok, I needed a change!

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I found this fabric at Ballards Backroom and was actually drapery panels.  A few snips of the scissors and it was no longer.  Cut, sew and boooooom! done.  And you’re right the ottoman and the chair don’t match, but in a perfect world they would. 🙂  I just figure everyone would be drooling over the fabric and not even notice that!

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This little cherub came from one of my favorite places in Lakeland FL – Dixieland Relics.  I gasped when I saw her for the first time.  Fourty bucks — major score!

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She now resides in my new walk-in closet. But if you sit on her I will have to kill you!

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This sweetie pie has no before but the after is awesome!  And yep, I’m very aware I have an obsession with blue & white right now.  Her wood frame was a little too yellow blond for me so I used white wax to tone it down a little.

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Author: Jennifer Stambek-Stephens

I am one of those people that has spent their adult life saying "How hard can it be????". If you combine that with a frugalness, that is exceeded only by my younger daughter, you have a combination that is often very successful but not without its 'ooops' moments. ;-) I've never wanted to spend the money to hire a professional so I learned how to do things myself. I wanted crown molding, too expensive, so I learned how to do it. Same thing with building, landscaping, painting, lighting, sewing, yada yada -- you get where I'm going with this I'm sure. :-) I have the tools and the experience for so many projects. Through this site I am sharing my skills and lessons learned to help others develop that "How hard can it be??" spirit in your home. If you want it, have been dreaming about, lusting after your friends version, posted a million posts of it to your Pinterest board --let's make it happen and within your budget. I'm a decorator AND the creator -- no middleman markup. I'm running out of projects in my house, (short of building an addition!) so lets get to work on yours! Whether it's slipcovers, new window treatments, making that dining room table look like it DID come from RH or helping you develop your own style I would be thrilled and honored to assist!

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