Hey there, hope you’re having a happy week. What have you been up to? We were supposed to go to a birthday celebration this weekend. Sadly, the hubby had to work. UGH, the joys of being an IT Nerd. So while he was stuck in front of his laptop I pottered around in the workshop trying to figure out what I could make with all the awesome stuff we have. And that’s when I found this broken chair back.
How To Turn a Broken Chair Back Into a Shelf
I have no idea what that other thing is., so it got tossed back into the pile for another day, while I tried to figure out what to do with the chair back. I’ve seen quite a few chairs repurposed as shelves, but they all had the seat portion still attached. So that wouldn’t work………… or would it? Mmmmm, maybe I could just add a shelfie bit. But first things first. That broken chair back needed to be cleaned and all the old varnish had to come off, along with those wooden bits.
The chair back is curved and there’s a decent amount of space that’s worth exploring. Using a piece of cardboard I made a template to fit that curved space.
And then I used the template to cut a piece of wood to fit.
Pretty good for someone who still trying to figure out how to cut curved lines with a jigsaw.
Have you ever wondered what a chair would look like if our knees bent the other way?
Okay moving on. Sand and stain all the bits, before gluing and screwing the piece of wood to the broken chair. And just like that we had a tiny little narrow shelf. It’s just wide enough to display a treasured photo and other small bits.
Don’t you just love that photo? We took it a few years ago when we went away for a weekend with some really good friends of ours.
Good friends have no shelf life
And those cute hugging salt and pepper shakers?
I draped a string of stars that I cut out using our Sizzix Big Shot over the shelf. Love that little machine. I can’t tell you how easy it makes my life. Imagine trying to cut all those stars out by hand. We’ve even used it make a wreath that we hung behind our pom pom Christmas tree. Anyways, let me know what you think. Do you have a broken chair lying around somewhere.
Oh and don’t forget to pin just in case you want to repurpose yours into a shelf too
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And as always wishing you a very blessed and beautifully crafty week.
Last update on 2026-04-23 / Source Amazon Affiliates
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