Trash to Treasure Chair

20 May
Are you a dumpster diver or curbside furniture shopper? I want to be but there are two problems... 1) not a lot of people put old furniture out on the curb where I live... or if they do I don't know about it and 2) I am too embarrassed and scared to do it alone, I need a partner in crime!

BUT... one day on my way to work I saw a chair sitting next to some garbage cans. I go to work super early and it was still dark and not many other people are up and about so I turned around and quickly put the chair in the back of my truck. You would have thought I was robbing a bank the way I was acting 😁😁

Sadly, when it got light outside and I went out to my truck to inspect my new chair I realized it had a broken leg 😢

I decided to try to fix it.

Repairing a chair with a broken leg


Here is the broken leg. Luckily it was a back leg and those were pretty straight... no spindles!


First I made a pattern by tracing the unbroken leg.


Then I carefully peeled back the upholstery. Speaking of upholstery, it was in near perfect condition so I wanted to save it.


Then I took the broken leg off and set to work trying to create a new one!


There we go!


Now it was time to put the upholstery back into place and stain the new leg to match.


It is not perfect but unless you know what has happened to this little chair it's hard to tell that this is a new leg.


It's such a sweet little chair. Had it not had such good upholstery I probably would have put it back on the curb but I had to at least try to fix it!




Here is a close-up of that pretty blue and white quilted fabric.


And the tufted back.


Pretty sweet don't you think? I took it down to my space at the antique mall today.



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  1. Tania, you did a great job on that chair!

    I'm never too embarrassed to stop and grab anything off the street. I'll even go up and knock on the door to ask if I can take stuff sometimes. I did that a few weeks ago when the people had a pile of stuff and then they ended up inviting me into the house to look at some other furniture. (which I'd never go into a strangers house normally but my husband was in the truck so I figured I was safe) Anyway, I got my biggest haul of free furniture EVER from that house. You never know unless you try.

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  2. I need you to live closer to me so we can go together! Maybe I'd get less embarrassed about it if I did it more. People just don't put furniture out on the curb around here for some reason :o(

    Tania

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  3. Lesley SpencerMay 21, 2017

    Great save - well done for making that leg repair. I too am a 'dumpster diver'. I have a beautiful solid pine drop leaf dining table, it was on the street with a sign saying 'free. take me'. I had to enlist the help of a random passing stranger to help me load it into my car - I know - I have no shame! I also got a rocking chair out of a skip on someones drive (I did knock and ask if I could have it), that is now fully refurbished and in my living room. Don't be shy - most people think you are doing them a favour as they don't have to take it all the way to the tip.

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  4. I wish I could do it more and that you lived closer so we could go together!! Do you have a blog or pictures of your table and rocking chair?

    Tania

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  5. Randi H.May 21, 2017

    Tania, Great save! I love how you fixed the leg. I would have been stumped!

    Randi @ A Fresh-Squeezed Life

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  6. Wow!! That was so smart of you; and you saved a beautiful chair. Good job!

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  7. Hi Randi! I was stumped for awhile. But finally I figured out that I could just make a whole new leg and I didn't have anything to lose since it was free!!

    Tania

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  8. Lesley SpencerMay 21, 2017

    I don't have a blog. But I am building a 'studio' in the garden (a very big shed really!) so I can do more 'stuff' and then I will definitely do one. At the moment everything in the house is stacked up on top of each other so I cant even take photos. Case of trying to do too much all at once!

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  9. Well I understand that for sure... trying to do too much all at once! Have a great week!

    Tania

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  10. Mimi HomewithMimiMay 22, 2017

    Wow! I'm impressed with your woodworking and repair skills. The salvaged chair looks great!

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  11. Love how you gave that chair a new lease on life Tania. Great idea to fix that leg. It looks awesome! And how wonderful that the fabric was in perfect shape. It's so pretty!

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  12. Thanks Tuula! I know, I couldn't believe how good the upholstery looks, I'm not sure how it got broken but it sure doesn't look like anyone ever sat in it!!

    Tania

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  13. Thank you so much Mimi!! I'm not sure about my woodworking skills, it's not perfect but to someone who doesn't know what happened it's hard to tell! I figured might as well give it a shot since it was free! If it hadn't worked out I would have salvaged as much of the upholstery as I could and the spindly wood pieces for other projects.

    Tania

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  14. Thrifty Mom In BoiseMay 23, 2017

    Holy crap you did a good job on that chair! Wow! It looks fantastic. You can't even tell it was ever broken. I would totally be your wingman for curb shopping. ;)

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  15. Thanks!! That would be fun to go dumpster diving/curbing together!!

    Tania

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  16. What a greata save! That chair is beautiful. I would be you wingman for junkernecking if you were in my neighborhood. My boyfriend hates my curbside rescues! I love it!

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  17. Oh wouldn't that be fun. My boyfriend hates it too :o(

    Tania

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  18. That is amazing! I would buy that in a minute. You go!!

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