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DigsMagazine.com.
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the
Furniture
FACELift
Fiasco,
a
cautionary tale
in two parts |
1 2 3
4 5
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I
was sure it would be easy. Re-doing the chair, that is. One simple
ugly chair, formerly part of a dining room set, purchased for a couple
of bucks by my boyfriend before I moved in with him. Just two
rectangular cushions and a wooden frame. I figured I could start the
project on Saturday, finish it up by Sunday, no problem. The books I’d
flipped through at Borders all assured me that re-upholstering was a
cinch. Re-finishing, I’d been told, was pretty straightforward too –
requiring a lot of sanding, to be sure, followed by just a couple of
coats of stain and varnish, but certainly nothing that required previous
experience to be able to do properly. Every single book and magazine
article I’d read led me to believe that all it took was a bit of
patience and a fair amount of energy.
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The books, the magazines, the do-it-yourself guides – they all LIE.
Here’s the truth: it took a lot of patience, a heap of energy, two
weekends, and nothing went as smoothly as I’d expected. If you’re
thinking of re-doing an old thrift shop find by giving it a re-finish
and re-upholstering, I’m not going to fool you: it’s a pain in the
behind. But you’ll have an advantage, should you decide to tackle your
first furniture facelift, because I’m going to show you exactly how to
proceed, plus warn you about all those pesky problems you will almost
assuredly encounter. Consider this cautionary tale a guide to everything
that can |
 
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go wrong in the re-finishing and re-upholstering process – I’ll
take you through the process, mistake by mistake. May you benefit from
my hindsight.
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The up-side of all this effort is the re-finishing and
re-upholstering process is remarkably cheap, and the end-product really will be
a vast improvement, even if, like me, you’ve somehow managed to make
every mistake possible in the whole re-finishing/re-upholstering
process.
the
story begins
... part
I: re-finishing
--------------------------->
lounge . nourish .
host
. laze . home.
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