Be Twine: New Love for an Old Chair

Ever get bored with your furniture...but not bored enough to replace it?  That's how I feel about our kitchen chairs.  We have a very tiny kitchen/dining room area so we also have a tiny table & chair set.  It's from Ikea, though I got it for $20 at a "yard sale" at work. 

source: Ikea

The company I work for does photography for catalogues and magazines, and sometimes the props can't be returned and aren't going to be reused.  So the company holds a yard sale for the employees and the money is donated to a charity.  This set was going in a silent auction and I was the only one that bid on it.  Could have had it for $1.  Can't complain about $20 for a $150 set though.

But it's kind of plain, isn't it?  Not a lot of excitement going on.  I'm really not fond of painted wood, and it already had a finish on it, so what's left to do?  Play with the chairs of course.  I decided to wrap the chair rails with jute twine for a more rustic look.  The twine is from the dollar store - seriously, I live there, right? - and one roll does a whole chair.

Here is a step-by-step if you feel the urge to entwine your chairs yourself:

Start with a small dot of hot glue at one end of the chair rail, in an inconspicuous place.  The dot of glue in this picture is too big, but it ends up hidden so no worries.  Press the end of your twine into the glue using a narrow instrument to get it tight into the corner.  I used a ruler or pen, whichever was closer at the time.

Wind the twine tightly around the chair rail, pushing the strands firmly against each other each time. 

I put another dot of glue when I get to the halfway point, to lock the twine in and to give me a break from holding it so tightly.

Keep winding all the way to the end of the rail, leaving a tiny, tiny space at the back for the final strand. 

Place a dot of glue in that space, press the twine into it, and snip off the excess twine.  (Wow I'm sick of the word "twine".) I used nail clippers to get in really close to the wood.  One rail done!  Now begin all over again with the next rail.  Or walk away for a little while because your hands hurt.

Here is my first chair all bound and dressed up for pictures. 

What do you think?  Pretty?  I like it.  I might even continue and wrap twine around one or all of the stretchers.

I'm also thinking of doing something with the seat.  Either a pad with some sort of design painted on, or I'll paint (gasp!) directly onto the wood.

Have you ever done something like this?  Dressed up your table and chairs to make them feel a bit fancier? Everyone needs to feel fancy sometimes.

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I'm linking up to these parties this week!