The Rusty Leopard

The Rusty Leopard - Sounds like the name of a great cocktail doesn't it, but no it's my name for this old oak desk chair.  I picked this up at a really good yard sale last summer for $10.  The cast iron mechanism was all rusted on it but worked, the caning on the seat was shot, and someone had already stripped the wood. (Sorry, I thought I had a before picture but I guess not.)  My husband thought it would be nice refinished back to the original oak, but I've seen too many around like that for sale so I wanted to do something different.  He also thought I was nuts when I said that I wanted to leave the mechanism rusted, but I knew I wanted a more industrial look to it.  My first thought was a Pottery Barn knock off black with some type of upholstered seat.  It sat around for months until I finally found this wild fabric for $1 at our local thrift store.  It got a couple of coats of black paint that was leftover from some other projects and then I wove some nylon straps around the seat frame and upholstered it with the faux leopard.  When I went to put it all together the shade of black was too soft and didn't go well with the fabric.  I figured with the rusted cast iron, and the colors in the fabric it could use a little brown tint, so I glazed it with some Martha Stewart Black Coffee glaze.  Have I told you how much I love this stuff?  I used it with a gray base coat for my zinc dresser, RH Style Zinc Dresser and know I got a completely different look on black.  Well my wild white bench that was upholstered in a faux snow leopard sold in a week, so hopefully this will have the same results.

Partying at:

The Chicken Chick
coastal charm
savvy southern style
beyond the picket fence
pjh designs