refinished faux bamboo chair - part 1

After much perusing of CL, I managed to come upon this bamboo chair (aside from it's homely appearance, I was still willing to adopt it for it's awesome bambooey frame).

With a price tag of $15, I was smiling ear-to-ear and thinking about Jonathan Adler's bamboo chairs (they look almost identical to mine), the Chippendale, selling for a mere $650 apiece.

*insert unattractive happy dance*

So, the first order of business was to carefully remove the original fabric. I didn't want to keep any of it, so I wasn't too worried if the fabric ripped.

The only thing that kept me going while grunting like a wild animal & yank out staple after staple were the potential ideas I had for the chair, which I scribbled down:

From the sketch, you can tell I wanted things pretty simple & classic; I wanted it to fit in every room, regardless of the colour scheme (which unfortunately ruled out some of the funkier options).

I decided to give the chair a glossy white finish, and using this neutral, yet patterned print from Tonic Living (seriously one of my favourite places right now!)

It's called Secret Gate in Silver and I only needed a yard, which was $25.

As much as I want to flex my re-uphostering muscles and show this chair who's boss, I waved a white flag after getting tendonitis, and just decided to hand it over to a professional (who I really wanted to give a great review of, but because of several irksome moments, will remain anonymous).

Before I do the reveal... just want to have a lil' before n' after action:
Before:

After:

Generally speaking, I was pretty pleased with the results.

The chair will be going in our master bedroom (probably somewhere near my Ikea rast hack). Our bedroom is nowhere near being post-able on the web, which explains the temporary staging in my hallway.. gotta protect your eyes from the mess ;)

they're an alright pair!

She also looks pretty cute with the pillow I made!

Until I do a final bedroom reveal (which, trust me, won't be for a while...), it remains prettily in our living room :)

Well, it was a good way to end a snowy, rainy day (can you believe it?! The 'May flowers' have probably shriveled up by now!)

Hope you're experiencing more favourable weather wherever you are! :)