This Is: My New Office Chair

This is a harp-back chair.

This is a block sander.

This is wood-finishing supplies.

This is my new office chair.

Stop me if you've heard me start a post like this before: I was walking around Goodwill when I found this project. You caught me. I found another project at Goodwill ... and for less than $10. There's almost always old wooden chairs for sale at our Goodwill, but they're usually in rough shape. This one caught my eye because it had a metal structure underneath the seat.

As I suspected, it allowed the chair to fold up. So not only was it more solid thanks to the metal frame, it was also practical. As you can see, a good deal of the finish had worn off, but other than fixing that, my repairs included fixing one stripped screw. That's it.

The chair appeared to have its original leather on it still, and since it was in good condition, I just left it. I hate reupholstering anyway.

My only gripe with refinishing chairs is refinishing chairs. It's nearly impossible to use an electric sander because of all the tight corners and intricate details. So I hand sanded the whole thing. About two hours later, I was left with a pretty cherry wood chair.

After a quick wipe down, it got the royal treatment: conditioner, new stain, finishing wax and a fresh buff. I've never used the wax before, so I'll be interested to see how well it holds up versus polyurethane or lacquer. It looks pretty good right now.

And unlike my old black office chair, it actually fits underneath our desk, which is what matters most to the wife.