Our Steampunk Chair Redo... DONE

Remember those zingy green/teal chairs we bought for the steampunk room last month?

 I told you guys I wanted to add faux brass ferrules to the feet, and maybe a decorative nailhead trim on the seat edges.

Well, we had to wait a while for the upholstery tacks to arrive, and then we actually had to do everything, but at long last:

They're done!

Like the pattern? I saw something similar on a chest of drawers, and John was able to size it to fit.

Here's a before and after:

I think you'll agree the feline addition makes the area 68% more cozy.

 The right pic is brighter, of course, but I still think those gold feet stand out nicely on the dark floor.

The legs were pretty simple: John just taped them off, primed, and spray-painted 2 heavy coats of metallic gold.

The nailheads were trickier. For that, John made a custom template in Illustrator, sized exactly to the tacks we ordered:

He poked through the paper with a sharp pen to mark the seat underneath, and then used those marks as a guide when nailing in the tacks.

A lot of the nails are only stuck through the fabric and a heavy canvas backing - no wood - so to secure them further, John globbed hot glue over the nail points inside the chair:

 (Luckily these chairs have a zippered cover that lets us get to the inside.)

I'm sure you could still pop out a nail if you were determined, but at least they won't be falling out.

We stopped there for a few days, but eventually I decided the back needed a nail outline, too, to tie the whole thing together. So John said *I* could do it. Ha! But I did:

 

 I just winged it on the back, so it's far from perfect. It looks ok from a distance, though, and I really like the look! Definitely ties in the front design, and at night the nails gleam quite prettily in the low light.

 We found our antique brass nailheads on ebay for $4.50 per 100 tacks, and we used just over 700 for both chairs, front and back. (Here's the auction, if you want the same ones.) So with the cost of the chairs themselves ($90), that puts us around $130 total for our new steampunk chairs. My inner penny-pincher is pleased. :)

And now... LILY PHOTOSHOOT.

 "You're a tiger! You're a sexy tiger!"

Don't let that look fool you; she's a total ham for the camera.

 And finally, I call this one, "MONDAY."

SO been there. 

(Heck, I *AM* there.)

Stay tuned for more Supercon cosplay!