Outdoor sun loungers DIY out of old goose hunting chairs using table cloths!
Hey guys I can’t wait to share this sun lounger project with you! Minnesota has FINALLY had itself a weekend that almost felt like summer here! I’ve been chomping at the bit to work outside. I’ve always been more of the construction type then desk jockey type and though I really needed a break after the house renovation my body has been itching in frustration to get out and do something with it! So, this weekend I had plans! My old barn became a relative’s dumping ground for many years (decades ago) so I inherited some very strange leftovers. Especially old hunting gear and what-not. And, you know me, I’m trying to find projects and usability every where I can! These chairs my dad proclaimed to be old goose hunting chairs that once came with a blind over top of them. I nodded thinking, Well, that’s cool but now they’re mine! Mahahahahaha! I don’t know about you but my idea of the perfect thing would be a place in the sun after work for a couple of hours, good company (or just myself would be fine too…) and a bottle of wine. I had been working on sun loungers in my head for months when I had stumbled upon these old goose hunting chairs and immediately, I got excited! I pulled them out of the barn Saturday morning and I got to work.
(Hence begins the long arduous hell that was this project – come along for the ride kids and see me waste hours!!!!)
They were GROSS!!! Literally they were totally covered in the excrement of what seemed like hundreds of different kinds of birds and critters. EEEEWWWWW
They actually look better in the pics then they were. (Stinky and oh so nasty.) For a moment I had the thought that I really should just try and save the old fabric and just cover it with the new stuff I had in mind. I probably should have tried to do that for real… I would have saved myself so many hours of hell and heartache. These sun loungers went from what should have been a 2 hour project to a 7 hour project and I am still SO mad at myself. The night before I tackled the frames I pulled out my bag of baling twine from the barn (left over from all the hay bales I fed my horses this winter) and started braiding it for tying the fabric in the back – I had envisioned lacing the fabric to the sun loungers like a corset – the braiding took me about two hours – and this (at the VERY beginning) is where the time wasting began . . . .
First thing I did was cut off the nasty camouflaged fabric and then I used my garden hose and steel wool to scrub the frames as best I could. They were in surprisingly good shape, there was only one that had some rust where the paint was flaking off. I put them on a tarp in my garage and got to work spray painting the frames. One thing I was really stoked about was how BIG they were and how sturdy and heavy as well. These frames are not delicate by any means – they’re designed to support big guys in full hunting gear during really cold and wet weather – so they’re very tough.
I spent $25 at walmart on four cans of rustoleum spray paint in the happiest colors I could find and three outdoor table cloths.
With the frames out in the garage drying I went in the house, removed my poor boots and took a look at my fabric. I already had taken the measurements I needed. (I’m going on about hour 4 now when it comes to time spent including the braiding the night before.) I laid the fabric out and spent some time figuring out how to get as much out of each table cloth as possible. I made one good decision at this point in deciding to double the outdoor table cloth fabric so it would be twice as strong on the sun loungers.
2 hours of retched grommeting later and they ripped out without a moments hesitation. I had a little melt down and I sat there staring at it with that sinking feeling telling me, “I told you so!” If nothing else however, I am resourceful and like all DIYers before me Never Give Up! Never Surrender! I believe I used several four letter words and then changed my game plan. If the fabric wasn’t going to be strong enough then FINE IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE!!! I grabbed my bag of baling twine and wrapped it around the back and the seats lots of times and created a support structure to be hidden under the fabric.
From there I cut new big holes (completely bypassing all of my hours of putting in grommets) and laced my fabric over the twine seat and back I had created and VIOLA! It worked!!
Takeaways:
I doubt outdoor table cloths from walmart would have been strong enough to support a person anyway but with REAL outdoor cloth that’s tough and meant for actual use the grommet idea would have worked great but with MUCH bigger grommets! So, it wasn’t a bad idea – I just executed it horribly.
7 hours later (and by some miracle) I actually managed to produce the sun loungers I had envisioned all along.
If you can’t find me you know where I’ll be this summer!
So, if you do happen upon some of these goose hunting chairs and you DON’T make my same mistakes this is actually an easy and quick project that produced outdoor sun loungers that cost me only about $25 . . . and my sanity. Here is to the hope that my other summer projects will go a little bit better then this one!
UPDATE: As requested here is a picture of the back of the chair completely finished! You can see there are no grommets, I just poked holes through the doubled up outdoor table cloth and laced it up the back. Hope that helps guys!
Comments
Leave a Comment
I’m Tarah!
It’s been a hell of a ride since I started this blog and renovated and moved into this old farm house back in 2015. I got married, divorced, lost my doggo soul mate, spent two years as a single gal, remodeled everything, threw my back out countless times and was even found by an amazing guy in my own backyard! (The story behind Storyhardt Farm.)
Around here we’re totally fearless when it comes to bettering our home. We love to refinish old furniture, re-purpose old pieces, build it from scratch and totally renovate anything that needs it! If we can do it – so can you. We’ve got some serious plans for this old farm and, for first time ever, I have a real partner!
This is gonna be so much fun!
You can also find out more about the amazing Grandma behind this blog who moved in to this old farmhouse with my Grandpa nearly 70 years ago!
Great job! And a big ole Atta Girl for sticking with it!
Thank you! It was worth it but I’ll admit to feeling quite beat up by the end of that day! lol
I started on HomeTalk with you on this project and came to the blog to be greatly amused by your hilarious sense of humor describing the sun loungers. Great job. The whole grommet thing is just a lesson learned. Omigosh…you remind me of me as far as being stubborn and pushing through ‘just be sure’ you weren’t right all along.
lol I’m just so glad I didn’t have any witnesses! I guess alls well that ends well, but this one really left me feeling like I had gone ten rounds in a boxing ring by the end of the day and it wasn’t even warm enough outside then that I could use them! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 We DIYers gotta stick together!
Will do, time permitting. Word Press wants my other email in order to follow, but I don’t seem to be able to change it here. We’ll see how it goes. Anyway, thanks for the morning laugh!!!
Thanks for stopping by!! 🙂
Saw this on Hometalk. Had to read the entire tutorial. These are beautiful and I would sacrifice seven or more hours for this result. I think it is well worth it. The colors are so cheerful and vibrant. With those sturdy frames, when that cloth wears out you can always reolace it. Nice of you to share. Thank you.
Thank you so much! Yes, after all that, I’m still very happy with them 🙂
What a big difference Tarah! I love how bright and happy the loungers are! How exactly did you tie them in the back? I am a bit confused. But they look fantastic! A job very well done.
I just cut big holes farther from the edge (skipping and going beyond my little grommets) and then laced them with twine like a corset, just didn’t do it too tight. Thank you for coming by!!
As many readers I started at hometalk and had to go to your blog to read more!!!
I could picture very well the situation, because it could have been me!! LOL
Coul you take apicture of the back of the chairs. I still can’t figure out how it looks like…
Thanks and congrats
Hi Denise! Thank you so much for coming by! I took a pic of the back of one of the chairs this morning and added it to the end of the post if you want to come back and have a look! Thanks!
Hi Tarah, What a great story! You tell it well. Your method of making a layer of support with twine was a good one. Here’s an idea that will reinforce things even more.
Next time you need to put a chair in a “corset”, try this. On the edge where you put the grommets you will usually have a hem or doubled fabric. Sew that “hem” down along the long edge leaving the short ends open. In that hem area insert a length of straightened clothes hanger wire or a 1/4-1/2″ wood dowel – something stiff that won’t bend easily. Do this on both “corset” folded edges. Then thread your rope or twine back and forth inserting BEHIND the wire. Grommets aren’t needed, you can either cut a small slit to insert rope or pierce a hole and thread rope through. The fabric won’t tear through (and it won’t matter if it does) because the wire or dowel is spreading the “pull” along the whole edge of the new cover. Hope this is clear… it’s a bit difficult to “describe” this without any images. If this is totally confusing, email me. I’ll send back some photos to explain. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your posts.
Ceejay, I totally get it! That’s a fantastic idea, it would be SO much stronger then anything else I had tried! Later I also had the thought of wondering if I would have been better off just buying “clips” of some kind, I know they make inexpensive ones for tarps. Then it would eliminate any cutting of the fabric or anything I would just pull it tight and clip it together like a chip bag. lol more experimenting is in order! Thank you for your idea and for commenting!
Hi Tarah, glad you could make sense of it! I’ll have to check out “tarp clips” – sounds like they could be interesting. Have a great weekend!
Thanks! Have a good weekend too!
Question…could you show a pic of the back of chairs after done? Like to see what you mean by lacing. Please…thank you!
Hi Linda, no problem! I took a pic of the back of one of the chairs this morning and added it to the end of the post if you want to come back and have a look! Thanks!
Aren’t you clever, Tarah?! Love the print on the tablecloths you chose 🙂 Thanks for linking up your project with us at Vintage Charm–
Thank you Diana!
Great job!! These look fabulous! Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY party!
Thank you Helen!!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful post at #OverTheMoon. I look forward to what you will share next week! Do something special. Give yourself a standing ovation today! We hope you’ll come back again next Sunday when we open our doors at 6:00 PM EST.
I’ll be there! Thanks for the great link party every week!
Wow, in the end, the chairs came out great. Sometimes it is a trial and error process when we create but it always turns out great. I think we are a determined group of people and we make it work.
Thank you and for sure! We are definitely stubborn lol but it is usually worth it!
I love the way these turned out…and thanks for sharing your “problem” with us. It’s humbling to know others encounter issues when completing their projects too lol. Oh, and thank you for sharing your story! I’m very close to my grandmas, there’s so much love there. #HomeMattersParty
Thank you Crystal!!
OH gosh…cannot believe how cute these are! 🙂
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thank you Jess, I was so relieved when they turned out!
What a great transformation! Love the fun colors!! Thanks for sharing them with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Thank you!!
Oh my goodness, you are amazing. I would have given up at the first sign of a problem, but you just soldiered on and the end result is brilliant. Well done and I hope you’ve had the chance to relax on the finished product #happynowlinkup x
Thank you Lisa, so glad they ended up turning out ok!
This is adorable! Lounging chairs can be expensive, so well done! Plus yours are a heck of a lot cuter than the ones you pick up at Walmart :)Thanks for sharing this at the #happynowlinkup
Thank you!! 🙂
I can’t tell you how many projects I’ve had that went this way. But I love that you pushed through and found a way to make it work. They are so bright and fun!
Thank you Leslie, it was a hard day lol but so worth it!
They look amazing! I wish I had found this post before I tossed my old moldy chairs. Pinned for next time.
Thank you!
What a great idea! I would have never thought to use outdoor tablecloths! I have a couple of beach chairs that need some sprucing up. I’ll have to use your tutorial when the time comes. xo
They lasted really great this summer too, I just wish I had thought to turn them over when we weren’t using them because the sun bleached them out a bit!
Love them. The colors are bright and Sprng like. Great job.
Thank you!!
I love the story of how you made them Tarah and I totally get the grommet thing – tried them once and it didn’t work 🙂 They look great now though
Thank you Amber!
These are wonderful, what a difference. I did something similar with my dining room chairs when I wanted to change them into cushioned backs. I used wide banding and wrapped it around the wood chairs and then sewed everything to the binding. It worked quite well, I got a couple more years out of the chairs that way.
Pinning this as it is a fantastic makeover.
Leanna, thank you!
I love your ‘new’ chairs! They look so summery! Thanks for sharing at Sew It Cook It Craft It.
Thank you Lina!
Another great upcycle! Hope to see you at this week’s party: http://www.jodiefitz.com/2017/08/15/reader-tip-tuesday-craft-recipe-party/
Thanks for sharing & inspiring. xo
Thanks for coming by!
What a transformation! Your sun loungers are beautiful, Tarah. What a fantastic way to recycle, although I appreciate it was a lot of hard work. Scheduled to pin and will share. Thank you so much for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party.
Thank you so much April!
They turned out beautifully! Thank you for sharing with us at the Homestead Blog Hop, we always enjoy your projects! 🙂
Thank you so much for coming by, reading and commenting, have a great week!
Wow! What a difference some elbow grease and creativity makes! great job!
Thank you Becky!
They gave you a lot of work but they turned out great. I love the bright colors and the fabric. Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned!
Thanks so much Teresa, they are still some of my favorites in the yard to lounge in, can’t wait for summer!
They look nice, but vinyl? You can find some nice outdoor fabric at JoAnn’s or other stores that won’t burn your bare legs after the chair has been in the sun. Or some Scotchguard on other fabric. You put so much time and effort into them.
That’s a good idea Jo, thanks for coming by!
Tarahlynn: Why didn’t you wait for another day and send away online for the grommets that were the right size? I lived in a small town recently and I couldn’t have survived there without the Internet.
Susan you are so right and I should have! I just couldn’t not finish lol when I start in on something I can’t help it, its now or nothing! Thank you so much for coming by!
I would suggest using a layer of drop cloth fabric with the tablecloths. It would make them stronger and support the grommets a bit better. Great looking chairs.
Thanks Karen that’s great advice!
great job. had you taken the chairs apart at the places they were joined you could’ve slipped them on by making tube like hems like the original fabric would’ve saved you time and money no grommets needed maybe when they need to be redone in the future also makes them a little stronger as well
That’s a great idea! Since this post came out they’re ready for a new makeover again and I definitely have better ideas on how to make them stronger etc. Thanks!
Could you use a metal washer on the back to keep the material from ripping? Great job.
That’s a good idea Peggy and would work for sure! Next time I’m going to try to create a case that just slips over the top of the whole thing.