Refurbished Dumpster Chair and Throw Pillows From a Duvet Cover

Refurbished Dumpster Chair and Throw Pillows From a Duvet Cover

It dawned on me last week that I live in Chicago...one of the largest cities in the US. I will probably not always live downtown and thus I need to take advantage of the fact that people throw out perfectly good furniture here all the time! Especially because I live right by UIC--college students are constantly moving in and out, throwing out what was left by the previous tenant, or getting rid of what they can't move with them.

Some neighbors mentioned to me that they were spring cleaning and together these two main ideas collided in my head like a firework show: Maybe other people are spring cleaning this weekend too...I need to look down every alley I pass on my morning walk. And so I did. And low and behold I ran across a broken chair without a seat cushion. One of the legs had popped off the pegs but was not splintered. I really liked the back and thought it had character. "If I could only find the missing seat cushion", I thought. I glanced to my right and there it was sticking out of a garbage can! SCORE! I took a before picture, but it didn't save to my phone (major bummer because it looked bad!). All I can tell you was that it was a light dirty oak color and the seat cushion had this stained green fabric on it:

After hauling the dirty chair to my garage, I sanded down the rough edges, and bought some wood glue to repair the popped-out-peg. I already had a can of espresso spray paint, so I went at it. While the paint was drying, I pulled all the staples out of the seat cushion that were holding the fabric in place. I thought I might have to buy a new cushion if it was mildewy or gross, but it was perfect underneath! So I cut some fabric that I already had and stapled it on. In 24 hours the spray paint had dried and today I have a fabulous arm chair nearly for free (I had to buy $3 wood glue and I wasn't patient enough to wait to borrow my Mom's staple gun, so I bought my own for $10 but what a worthwhile investment--I foresee many uses for that staple gun in the future!)!

The fabric is actually from a duvet cover that I bought at the Goodwill for $7. It didn't match the decor in our bedroom, but I loved the fabric so I am incorporating it into our brown and red living room via the new cushion on this refurbished chair, a quilt (forthcoming), and throw pillows. I even used the buttons at the bottom of the duvet cover on the back of the pillows so they were SUPER quick and easy. I love thrifting!!!

Totally pumped...