This month the Power Tool Challenge team is making Home Decor items under $10. I made a repurposed Chair shelf for this month’s challenge. We are also opening up the challenge to you, our readers, to submit your home decor item that you made or repurposed for under $10. Stay tuned for more details on the contest and what you can win!
Have you ever come across some old vintage chairs at a thrift store or garage sale? You love the chair, but really do not need another chair in your home. You keep walking back to it and telling yourself, what would I do with another chair? The chair keeps calling your name, so you buy it. It sits in your garage or basement for months, because you truly have no more room for another chair. I am here to solve your chair dilemma, turn it into a repurposed chair shelf.
I had 2 old chairs sitting in my workspace waiting to be used and I finally decided to repurpose them into shelves.
I removed the leather seat from the chair. The chair had an opening where the leather seat base was, so this made it very easy to cut the chair.
I made a few easy cuts right where the joints were on the front and back of the seat base. I removed the side spindles from the chair legs.
I had a wood top from an old sewing machine and the top part was a perfect size. I was able to use the outside edges for both shelves and it had the perfect beveled edge.
I measured each side 6 inches out and marked the board. This cut could be done with a circular saw, just draw a straight line down the board.
I did have to notch out the shelf for the top of the chair since it had the upright supports. I needed the shelf to go all the way to the back of the seat base. I placed Gorilla wood glue on the shelf and clamped the shelf to the chair base to hold together. I drilled in a few wood screws from the bottom to hold the shelf to the chair bracket.
The wood from the sewing machine looked perfect with the chair, so I decided not to paint it. I liked the look of the wood tones. I used black wax to darken the wood slightly.
I love the versatility of the shelves. You can use them in any room of your house.
I did the same for this second chair. The base of the seat was wide enough that I did not have to add wood for a shelf. You can achieve this painted look by using One Step paint in the color Barefoot in the Park by Amy Howard and sealing using Dark Antique Wax.
This is the bottom half from the green chair above. You can create this look by using One-step paint in Selznick Grey, Toscana Milk paint in Strasbourg White, and light and dark antique wax. I created a video on how to do this aged paint layered look, hop over to my youtube channel to check out the video.
Now let’s see what the gang made for this month’s challenge!
The Kim Six Fix – Pottery Barn Inspired Concrete Top Coffee Table
Domestically Speaking – Large DIY Wall Sign
H2OBungalow – DIY Live Edge Coffee Table With Hairpin Legs
My Repurposed Life – Sofa Side Table
My Love 2 Create – Fabric and Wood Wall Hanging
Virginia Sweet Pea – Card Display Holder
The DIY Bungalow – Repurposed Fire Screen
Designed Decor – Upcycled Wall Shelf
Create and Babble – DIY Wood Plank Walls
Thrift Diving – DIY Bath Vanity
Now to enter the reader challenge!
Simply enter your project below and the Power Tool Challenge Team will vote on our favorite reader entry. One lucky reader will receive a Finish Max Pro Paint Sprayer, a large and small spray shelter and a rapid clean cleaning tool compliments from HomeRight. If you are unable to submit your project below, please email me ([email protected](dot)com) with a photo of your project and I will place the entry for you.
Join the DD Community!
Join the Designed Decor Community and receive weekly free tips on DIY home projects, painted furniture, decorating, and much more.
I’m going to be on the lookout for awesome old chairs like these – I love the idea of making them into such beautiful shelves!
Thanks Jeanie! It is fun to see how you can repurpose those old chairs, each one has a personality of its own!
Very good! What a pretty, creative and practical way to repurpose a chair. Loved the idea. Brilliant!
Thanks, Vashti!
What a cute project! Especially if you don’t have a lot of room for an area to place your keys, wallet, etc. You did a great job.
Thanks, Kim! I loved how they staged by using them in other areas of the home besides the bathroom!
Excellent idea for repurposing an old chair, DeDe! I happen to have one collecting dust in the workshop. Pinning to share and bookmark for reference.
Marie, I know you will something creative to do to those old chairs!
So creative! I’ve always wanted to try this project – pinned and shared!
Karen, go out and find a few chairs if you don’t already have them in your stash!
Hello repurposing!!! What a great use of an old chair & I love that paint job!
Thanks, Maryann! They were fun to do!
I LOVE a great repurposed chair project! 🙂 I love how yours turned out. I’m always on the lookout for garbage chairs. 🙂
pinning!
gail
Gail, you are the queen of repurpose! I am sure you have a few in your workshop!
Yay for repurposing! This looks so pretty and so useful! Awesome! Pinned!
Thanks so much Mindi!
This is darling! We have an old chair out in the garage that’s broken beyond repair and I couldn’t let it go because it held special memories for me. Maybe this is a solution for still using it! Pinned and shared 🙂
Wendi, You will definitely find the perfect project to use it for!
What a great use for an old chair that probably never was that comfortable anyway. (I know because I have six of them in my dining room that belonged to my great-grandmother that I am stuck with for life because they are a family piece. My husband refused to sit in them because they are so uncomfortable.)
I love that the back of the chair is decorative and there’s a shelf and towel rack created with the other chair parts. What a great upcycle project!
Paula, Maybe you can turn yours into a bench! I know it is so hard to have to keep items that are passed down and repurposing them gives you guilt but maybe you can find the perfect compromise.