The carvings were utterly gorgeous, and I was so excited to get it home and start working on it!

I started by stripping off the finish using Citristrip. To my surprise, I found cherry wood beneath it, not the stained oak I was expecting!

You can really see in this photo the difference in color once the finish was removed!

I put a clear finish on top of the wood, which really lightened it up from how I brought it home, then started working on the fabric. For more details, be sure to check out the full blog post.

I pulled off the old fabric, and recovered the chair with a bleached drop cloth. The padding I found underneath was really interesting!

I secured the fabric in place upholstery staples in hidden places, and brad nails in the visible spots.

I absolutely love how the chair turned out, and am so excited I found it at such a good price! It's the first real "antique" I've worked on, and it makes me happy every time I look at it.

If you like it too, be sure to go check out how it fits in with the rest of my living room. I just did a full remodel, and the chair fits in perfectly!