DIY ROPE WRAPPED CHAIR (FROM AN OLD OFFICE CHAIR!)

Happy International Women’s Day guys! I hope you’ve had a great day, celebrating equality and the women who inspire you – whether at work, home or…. on snapchat? Being a day to champion the fact that women can do anything, I wanted to share with you one my furniture DIY projects. Might sound a little left field, I know. But as a bit of context, you’ll know that originally on this blog my focus was fashion. During this time, I always doubted my ability to be good at the more ‘masculine’ side of the DIY. Which is weird because I grew up with a legit bra burner who taught me anything was possible… But having never been tested, or never having bothered to buy a drill, I accepted the gender stereotype that fixing a car or building furniture was for the guys. It wasn’t until I rolled up my sleeves and got my hands dirty that I worked out you don’t have to be a dude to be good at those things, in the same way you don’t have to be a woman to be good in the kitchen (or like Downton Abbey). Hello power tools! In the context of International Women’s Day and feeling more equal with the opposite sex, a good place to start for me has been with myself, and the things that I believed I could do. Now, not to downplay the wage gap and other real issues, but there’s nothing better than feeling you can look after yourself. Perhaps today is a good day to do something you’d usually feel is ‘for the guys’?

You need:

• A chair that has (from what you can see) a good metal frame
• Rust guard spray
• White spraypaint
• Paint of your choice (we used outdoor paint)
• 50m (approx 60 yards) of rope

How to:

1. First, remove the seat and back from the chair. I used a hammer and a little bit of elbow grease (aka me jumping on it) to do this. I then also used plyers to remove the metal clips you can see in the base of the seat. Then, using a soft cloth I wiped down the whole frame really well.

2. Spray your chair with rust guard and then your base spray paint. I did a white undercoat so the mint colour would pop when added on top.

3. I then added the mint over the top, doing two coats in total.

After I let the frame dry for 24 hours, I got started on the roping seating.

4. To do this, tie off your rope on one side, and then, with nice tight tension, cross the rope over to the other side of the chair. Wind it around the other side of the frame once so it stays in place, and then go back the other way. Repeat all the way down the chair.

Once you get to the bottom of the seat, tie it off underneath really well.

Repeat this process for the seat back.

Voila!

On a side note, Ben and I seem to have managed to subvert gender stereotypes completely…. Today I realised he’s been working for the last week feeding the yeast for his home made sourdough (more on that one day soon), while I tinker in the bedroom crafting bedside tables using a circular saw and drill. I’m not sure exactly this classifies for a win for equality, just nice to see progress in action…

Keen to get hands on and make some furniture? Try these shelves, this wardrobe, this bench or this vanity.