Certainly I’m not the only one who would see this sad little antique vanity seat sitting there in the store all lonesome and feel bad for it, right? I mean, look at those turned legs, the awful vinyl upholstery that is begging to be ripped off. I say it’s makeover time! {{fist pump}}
Old upholstery is one thing, but I totally never understood why you would use vinyl unless you like a sweaty bum. I know it’s easy to clean, but there are other ways. In addition to the seat, you can get cracks that HURT!! If you look closely, you can see how someone did a half-wit job recovering this. Those corners would be my bare leg nemesis.
RIP IT OFF
As you can imagine, I’m so excited to see what’s under this blucky stuff. I use my cats paw prybar and a flathead screwdriver because this stuff is tacked in with 1″ nails. whew!
Because of my past experiences in these past posts HERE, I knew this wasn’t the original vinyl. I’m assuming, however, that vinyl is used because there is more vinyl under there.
BINGO!! And it’s green. haha. This totally reminds me of a school bus seat – oh the horrors of riding a bus. Thankfully, this upholstery is done with basic staples that I pull out easily.
To finish the upholstery, I dig into my stash and pull out this gorgeous white linen I used on my channel back chair. Fortunately, I have enough to cover with scrap leftover. By the way, if you ever want to try your hand at upholstery, the easiest project to start with is a stool (tutorial here).
First, you can see my upholstery “sandwich” of linen, batting, original padding, and frame.
Then, I use my stapler to tuck and staple all around the seat.
PAINT
After that, I pick a soft slate green (the same as my kitchen cupboards) to paint the antique vanity seat base.
Two coats, followed by distressing and wax. Next, as soon as the paint is cured, I put the seat in followed by gimping to dress it up.
SEAT OF A QUEEN
Finally, here is my thrifted-found antique vanity seat with a brand-new “old” look and ready for many more beautiful sittings to come.
Sigh…that’s better. The color is soft, the linen makes it refreshed as well as durable, and the size makes it suitable for most any room.
So tell me, where would you use this cute? It’s available in my online store alone with many other fun finds.
As always, my goal is to inspire you. Have you tackled an upholstery project before? If you’re like me, your first time is scary, but the more you work on it, the easier it gets.
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What is more, I found this potential project piece that I couldn’t resist. Do you blame me?
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While you’re at it, here’s more DIY inspiration like this antique vanity seat makeover:
So sweet!! And a seat like that can be used in sooo many places!! And I am in LOVE with that color!!! Feel better soon!!! 💐
I can imagine all the lovely ladies that sat upon it gazing at themselves – God’s wonderful creation.
It’s beautiful! Simple and sweet. Love it!
Thank you. I sure would love to have need for something like this. 🙂
I can think of many area of use for this sweet little bench. It was very sad looking before but sure is beautiful now. Very fresh with the linen and soft green/blue color.
It will be fun to see where it ends up. I’m sure glad I had a chance to revive it. Thanks, Niki!
Hi there. It does look sweet updated, but just a bit of info,: this is a vintage sewing stool that goes with a vintage Singer sewing machine cabinet., specifically cabinet #56.
Now, in more modern days, they are handy to have around for various uses, but many sewers still use the stools with their matching cabinet. There are a few different styles.
Thank you. Yes, I used the vanity seat in my title basically for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to appease the Google gods. 😉 Definitely useful for many things!