Metal chair makeover

We've all used plain brown metal chairs. They may be ugly, but they come in handy!
My grandma gave me these two unpadded ones.

I found this padded one on the curb.

I figure I'll add to my collection whenever I come across more free chairs. I'll paint them the same color so they match.

I removed the pad on the padded chair and then cleaned them all with TSP. I primed them with Rust-Oleum's Clean Metal Primer. I had white on hand. Grey would be the better choice if you're painting a dark color.

I also had teal Behr paint on hand (it was free from EcoStore). Spray paint would have worked better so keep that in mind if you're going out and buying paint. Spray paint will go on much quicker and smoother.

First coat

While the first coat was drying, I reupholstered the pad. I picked up material from Hancock Fabric. They have the nice, thick, expensive fabric discounted big time in the back of the store. It's in piles so you have to dig. Basically it's leftover scraps, but it's marked down to $5 per yard. A lot of it is originally $20-$40 per yard. I paid $6 for 1.5 yards of this tan material. If you fill out the survey on your receipt, you'll get a code for $5 off your next $30 purchase.

I always make sure there is about 1 inch to fold over on each side. I use a regular staple gun. If I start doing more upholstering, I might have to look into an actual upholstery gun.

Corners can be the trickiest part.

The one on the left is being used for another project. The one on the right is going on the metal chair.

I added two more coats of paint to each chair (so three coats total) and here is the final result:

Cheap and easy project that anyone can do!