Burlap Coffee Sack Rocking Chair

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Hello! I’m so delighted to be joining you here today at Domestically Speaking for the Burlap Lovers Series. Thanks so much, Maryann, for this great idea!

My name is Stacy and I blog over at Anastasia Vintage, where my husband and I create all kinds of vintage-inspired crafts and furniture makeover projects.

I’m so thrilled to be one of the 21 guest bloggers sharing our best burlap ideas with you! Lately, we’ve been working on refurbishing a lot of chairs around here, and here’s one I especially love – our burlap coffee sack rocking chair.

I’m SO smitten with the idea of using unexpected items for upholstery, and I’m always collecting odds and ends I might one day be able to use.

Last winter, while browsing one of my locaI Facebook groups, I spied a huge lot of burlap coffee sacks for sale. I didn’t know what I’d do with them at the time, so naturally, I bought three. Because why not? 🙂 They still smelled strongly of coffee, and even had remnants of beans left behind.

A few months later, from that same Facebook group, I picked up an old and very dingy rocking chair. It was covered in cat hair and upholstered with what looked like a bed sheet under the actual fabric.

And the seat was filled with…well…I’m not sure exactly, but I’m going to guess that it was a combination of plastic, hay, and horse hair.

Horse. Hair. Just let that sink in for a moment.

Gross. Upholstery is not for the faint of heart, friends.

Once the old materials were removed (and placed directly in the garbage!), the chair was stripped and sanded. With a medium grey paint layered with light and dark glaze, I gave the frame of the chair a new, Restoration Hardware-inspired look (you’ll find the full tutorial for the finish here).

After that, I got to work adding new foam and batting to the chair seat and back.

Here’s a quick tip: burlap is often woven more loosely than typical upholstery-grade fabrics, which can leave fibers from the batting poking through the holes. Using a layer of tightly-woven fabric under the burlap keeps those little fibers in place for a nice, clean finished product.

To finish off the chair, I took some inspiration from the original and used aluminum tacks for the trim.

And here it is, all put together!

I love the bold graphic print of the burlap with the contemporary, weathered paint – it’s a little modern and a little rustic, all at the same time.

It’ll be hard to part with this one, but we’re excited to find it a new home. Contact us at [email protected] if you’re interested!

Stop by tomorrow for more burlap inspiration!