Antique Commode Chair

I got really excited about this antique commode chair, $20 on CL. But as soon as I got this chair home, my husband was off to the races making fun of both me and my chair - yes, conversation piece but not exactly the creme of the crop in terms of desirable antique furniture. Nevertheless I was determined to make this a beauty.

Here's how I did it!

First, I decided this chair would no longer serve the purpose of a commode, rather a nice sitting chart with storage (don't think about this too much). So I went to Joann's fabric and got some rather thick padding and some discounted yet cute upholstery fabric.

I thought that I was ready to go but then I found out that this chair had been stained then painted then painted and then painted again over the years. Stripping the chair was essential. I don't mind stripping - I've tried two products, a non toxic chemical from Lowe's and Citristrip that I ordered from Amazon. Citristrip was the way to go, definitely. I had to strip three times to clean this chair. I repainted the chair a yellowish brown and stapled the commode top firmly in place.

Next, I decided that a nice blue streaky stain would look just wonderful - I had seen a neat technique over at beachbumlivin.

After two weekends and an hour or so after work during the week, I was ready for the fun part: distressing. First, I sanded to blend the blue stain with the paint. This is very important, as the stain looks just streaky and fake without the benefit of blending from the sander. I was rather heavy handed with the sander, since I wanted to synthesize the look of a really old chair.

I am happy with the end result. I placed this chair in our foyer and do sit it from time to time. The padding is really nice.

I haven't figured out what goes into the storage compartment. What would you store in this chair?

Bex Wilder