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Upholstery Day Two: Putting It Together

Friday, June 17, 2011 by Chris

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The best thing about taking a course like this is that all the tools are provided, which means you can give them a try without committing to expensive equipment purchases. Manual staple guns will suffice for a dining room chair with a full-seat wooden support, but if strapping is involved, you really need a compressor-powered gun to drive the staples into the frame. For me, facing the gun for the first time summoned memories of high school wood shop but in this case I was actually anxious to use the tool rather than flee the building screaming. The gun is loud and powerful but nothing at all to fear. Andrea recommended weaving the straps for further resilience so that's what I did.

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Upholstery Day One: The Prep

Thursday, June 16, 2011 by Chris

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After removing the nasty seat cushions of my $20 garage sale chair, my next task was to remedy the wear and damage to the original wood finish. RE:Style Studio owner Andrea Ford introduced me to the Black & Decker Mouse sander, which did a fine job of removing the old factory finish. Eventually. It took me all morning of our first day to get the chair to the point where I could start the spray lacquering. The process just confirmed my preference for stripping over sanding; a chemical stripper can do in minutes what takes hours to accomplish with a sander, even a Mouse.

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RE:Style Success Story

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 by Chris

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It's not like I was expecting a crappy result but honestly, I never imagined my first reupholstery project would turn out so incredibly well! The happy ending is entirely thanks to my coach, Andrea Ford of Toronto's RE:Style Studio: I spent Saturday and Sunday at Andrea's west end workshop where she walked me and a fellow named Jay through our first projects. Jay was ambitious taking on no less a behemoth than a La-Z-Boy recliner. I was much more modest in my attempt to rehab a T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings side chair with removable seat and back; I also redid the seat of another chair, which looks easy but like the back of the Gibbings has a significant curve to it, which presents a challenge to a rank beginner like me.

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RE:Style Studio Sale and Workshops

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 by Chris

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If I was younger and prettier — and female — I’d want to be Andrea Ford, above, the stylist, blogger and DIY champ who runs RE:Style Studio where she tackles her own projects and teaches people like me how to take on their own. I’ll be joining Andrea June 11 & 12 for her BYOP (bring your own piece) workshop, where she’ll help me turn a $20 flea market chair into what I hope will be a stunner. . . This weekend Andrea is holding her first ever RE:Style Studio Sale where she’s parting with some of her one-of-a-kind showstoppers; prices range from $200 for an ottoman to $2,000 for the spectacular black and white settee. If your space needs a wake-up call put the RE:Style sale on your calendar. And if you’ve got a chair of your own you’re dying to makeover join us in two weeks as we roll up our sleeves and try to turn our trash into treasure.

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Spray Paint Like A Pro

Monday, April 11, 2011 by Chris

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You don't have to be a DIY champ to know that a quick coat of paint can completely transform a piece of furniture. But spray painting can be frustrating if you don't do it right and this past weekend I learned a few tricks that I'm happy to pass along. My biggest discovery is the existence of custom spray nozzles, which utterly transform the process of do it yourself spray painting. See the wickedly smooth, slightly reflective top on the IKEA side table, below? There's no way I could have gotten such a professional looking result without the help of custom spray nozzles available for just 50¢ each at Curry's Art Store.

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