project vintage kitchen chairs

I acquired a set of these chairs (4 for $28) at an antique dealer in Ventura.  I like the sturdiness and the fact that they fold up.  They really don't make them like this anymore.  The avocado green vinyl was lackluster so I wanted to give these another life as bright and cheery beings.  I decided to spray the frames in high gloss white, then re-cover them in oilcloth fabric.  Oilcloth has a great vintage vibe that I thought would suit these perfectly.   After agonizing at the fabric store, I ended up choosing sunflowers and gingham in yellow.








The fabric on the back of the chair was nearly impossible to remove.  It didn't slide out neatly, I had to pry it out by bending it and then working it out of the groove.  The seat cushion was movable after a lot of work unscrewing the back which was all rusty and took a lot of muscle.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to physically remove the seat cushions from one of the chairs, and could not for the life of me insert the chair backing on another.

Oilcloth is not the easiest material to work with.  I had to spray glue the fabric down to a cardboard-like backing, and it was impossible to get all the bubbles out.  I really tried to smooth it out as much as possible.  The material worked fairly well on the seat cushion because I was able to tighten the fabric around the edges.

In the end, this was one of those super frustrating projects that I will NEVER do again.  Nevertheless, I was able to finish two.