Vintage Drexel Rope and Tassel Arm Chair Makeover

Suzette
by Suzette
2 Materials
$60.00
Medium
If you are a patient person, it can be well worth your time to recreate something tired and old, into something fabulous and bold!
I was given a set of 4 vintage Drexel Rope and Tassel arm chairs from a friend. They were so tired and worn.
I took the seat and back off, took out a million staples then sanded, and sanded, and sanded some more! (I think my neighbors hate me)! lol
Next I used "Classic Gray" stain by Minwax and while it was wet, I lightly dragged white paint to highlight. It takes a long time to dry, but worth it for the look I was going for. I had to cut out a new seat as the old one disintegrated.


I re upholstered with a whimsical tropical fish upholstery fabric I found on line.
The back was very hard for me to do because it's hollow and there was only a little bit of wood to staple into and I had to do the front and back separately. After much frustration, this is how it turned out! (This was my first time doing hollow back chairs).
I actually received 4 chairs, and to date have finished 2. Thanks for lookin' :)
Suggested materials:
  • Plywood for new seats.   (Left over from another project.)
  • Upholstery fabric   (Ebay)
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  2 questions
  • Mickey Baron Mickey Baron on Apr 20, 2016
    Are all 4 going at the same table? If so, will you be using this same fantastic fish fabric on the other 2? LOVE your redo, it's a stunner.
  • C Crow C Crow on Jun 09, 2019

    Looks great. Did you reuse the old padding under the new upholstery? If you replaced it, please share how you did that and with what. Thank you.

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3 of 22 comments
  • Sha4457197 Sha4457197 on Apr 20, 2016
    That is absolutely gorgeous!! Everything works together so beautifully! LOVE that fabric!
    • Suzette Suzette on Apr 20, 2016
      @Shangrila427 Thank you so much! I fell in love with the fabric as soon as I saw it! It sort of glows in dim light which I just noticed the other day. Pretty neat stuff! :)
  • Mary McDonald Mary McDonald on Dec 20, 2020

    Oh geez! The second I saw the pic of the finished chair, I was in love! I usually only react that way to sparkly stuff like jewels, lol! Someone would pay a pretty price for the chairs. All your hard work paid off! Also you must feel lucky to get such a unique looking style of wood.

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