Tricked Out Book Page Decoupage Chairs

I have a set of six old dining chairs that are looking really beat. I don't really need them, but I don't want to get rid of them, because they'd be nice for extra seating (like I entertain a lot, ha ha ha!) but they're kinda bulky and I don't have anywhere to store them. So, I'm going to fix them up and use them as decorative accents around the house. That way, when (and if) I need them, they're easily accessible and they'll add a little personality. Every house needs some personality.

I loved how well my daughter's decoupage desk turned out and I love reading, so why not use book pages? They worked out pretty well on my book page lampshade, so I'm going for it! And it's way more creative and interesting than just plain, old paint.

I turned my attention first to my little nook in the foyer. I decided to put a chair in there, as well as a small folding table. I was given three of them and I like having a small, portable table that uses up very little space. Here's the chair and table in all their pre-make-over glory:

Pretty sad, right? I stripped, sanded and painted them antique white, then hit them with a coat of diluted brown glaze. I used a toothbrush and the glaze to give the chairs some faint age spots. I think age spots give furniture character, unlike my face. Those, I try to banish. Then it was on to decoupaging.

I wanted an aged look, but all my old books are my favorites and I will NOT desecrate them. I can't do that to "Anne of Green Gables", "Nancy Drew" or "Little House". Besides, I still break them out and read them. I love them that much. For some reason, I have two copies of "Little Town on the Prairie", one of which is missing the last couple of pages. So I used that.  

I decided to only decoupage the chair seat and the table top, so I took off the seat and the table top so they would be easier to work with.

After I carefully cut the pages out of the book, I arranged and rearranged them until I was pleased with the placement. Then I broke out the decoupage. I brushed a thin coat on the back of the pages, then carefully smoothed them down onto the chair seat, making sure the edges were adhered. 

 After I finished, I thought it needed something. I remembered some wall art I pinned on Pinterest. It was bird silhouettes on a book page background. But instead of black silhouettes, I did a red bird on a brown branch with green leaves. I just traced a bird onto red cardstock, cut out a branch from brown cardstock and leaves from green. And I had all that in the craft stash. I just decoupaged them on to the pages and after about an hour I brushed on a coat and then another coat an hour after that. After they dried overnight, I gave them a couple coats of sealer, put everything back together, and rejoiced. Life was good. I popped them in my awkward foyer nook and hung a photo gallery (with Command strips so I can redo it whenever I want). I spray painted all the frames in a matching antique white so they all match. Or look cohesive, whichever you prefer.

Now I decided to make a chair to complement my "Life Is Better With A Rottweiler" art. I hung the art at the top of my stairs, but there's another awkward space that was just crying out for a chair. At least that's what I heard. I stripped (I am not enjoying this), sanded and painted this chair black to complement the art frame (and the rest of the frames upstairs). I covered the seat with pages leftover from my Rottweiler art. Just add a stuffed rottie and I'm done! 

Finally, I did two more chairs and another small, portable table for the dining room. I stripped (I REALLY, REALLY HATE stripping furniture at this point), sanded and painted them antique white and aged them just like I did with the foyer chair and table. But instead of just decoupaging them with pages, I cut petal shapes from an old "Joy of Cooking" cookbook (I have two and one if falling apart). Using the same glaze I used to antique the chairs, I sponge painted about half the petals. I then traced a big circle on the seat using a pizza pan, then started decoupaging the petals around the circle. After I finished the first circle, I started the second circle with the sponged petals. After that, I just kept alternating sponged and non-sponged circles. Then I sealed it with a coat of decoupage and hit it with a couple coats of sealer. On the second chair, I alternated sponged and non-sponged petals, instead of just the circles. On the table, I alternated circles. Looking good, right? 

I still have two chairs that I have no idea what to do with or where to put them. I'm pondering a "Harry Potter" chair for one daughter and a "Game of Thrones" for the other. I am still in the pondering stage, however, if I do follow through with these ideas, I'll be sure to post them! 

Until the next project, 
Chris :)