While out driving around one day, I came to a stop sign, and as usual, looked both ways before starting to accelerate into traffic. I spied to my right a pile of discards at the curb in front of a house. Instead of turning left, I pulled over to the right in front of the pile and eyed a vintage crib…remember the ones with the puppy and kitty decal on the wooden ends? Well this crib instead of decals were hand painted with the same vintage look of the old decals….these were coming home with me! Not sure what I wanted to do with it yet, but I’ll figure that out later. There were also a couple of broken dining room chairs where only the legs and seats remained…I threw them in the back of the car as well.
Curbside crib ready for repurposing
Little did I know then that these curbside treasures would come together in an idea for a Nursery I was designing for the Parade of Homes in 2014. I have a tendency of wanting to use something in a totally different way…a real repurposed project. For the Nursery, I was already using a vintage iron crib, a hand-painted dresser, some German Glittery Cuckoo clocks for the wall mural (see my other post about this project) so I needed something to fill in some space on the floor near the window. A chair….not just any chair, but a “crib” chair. A perfect perch to set a favorite stuffed animal, or a chair for supporting their first steps. Plus, I painted the back as a chalkboard, so this chair can grow into the next phase of their lives.
Crib chair ready for paint details
I knew I wanted to keep as many of the vintage parts to the crib as I could, plus, I wanted to hand paint a design on the legs and along the back, so I decided not to use a chalk base paint for the legs. I had on hand some “oops” paint in a pretty teal color which would be nice against the coral dots I wanted to paint. I had picked up oil paint tubes that had been on sale at the Christmas Tree Shop several years ago, and using a paper plate started to mix some colors so I could paint my design after the enamel paint background was dry. While the paint was drying, I took out all the tacks and staples on the dining room seat, painted the legs to match the crib, and wrapped the plywood seat with new batting and fabric.
Recovered curbside dining chair with new batting, a coat of paint and cheery fabric for nursery
It was a bit tricky figuring out how to attach the backless dining room seat with legs to the front of the crib, but I left that to my brilliant husband who always seems to know what to do 🙂 There was lots of wood glue, clamps, pegs and screws to attach it, and it looked great!
Hubby working on repairing and refiguring dining chair legs for crib chair
I hand painted little dashes along the sides and legs to resemble stitch marks like on a quilt, and mixed several colors on my brush for the stripes along the top. Here is a picture of the finished piece, ready to be set into the staged Nursery at the Parade of Homes.
Completed crib chair from curbside discard to Nursery treasure
Here is a sneak peek of the Nursery from the Parade of Homes where this crib chair ended up. I made the little stripe accent pillow, and the bunny I had picked up at a Gift Show years ago, and he just fit with the colors perfectly so he had to sit in the chair! (You can read more about the Parade Nursery in my other post)
The finished crib chair shown in the Nursery I designed at the Parade of Homes in Clay, NY 2014
I still have the back piece of the crib with a little kitty on it, so when this one sells, I’ll try another one….or maybe think of something entirely different…for I do like to challenge myself..giggle.
Curbside vintage crib with handpainted kitty ready to be repurposed
To receive posts in your email click HERE 
Subscribe in a reader or sign up in box in middle of sidebar.
