Burlap Coffee Sack Rocking Chair

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!