A Tale of Ten Chairs

I find it extremely difficult to pass up a chair, which has led to so many chairs (11 at present) in my garage that I have no space for anything else....well, they are taking up valuable real estate in there!!!  With closing the shop I have an overload of "what the heck am I going to do with this stuff". Something's gotta give!!!

 

I have four of these chairs that I've been using for the past 10 years. I like the openness of the high back, the graceful legs, the ease of re-upholstering them, all are remarkable sturdy given their age, but they are severely lacking in comfort.  I paid less than $7.00 for ALL!

 

 

 Doesn't the back look like a birds eyes & beak?

I know, fantastic huh??? Such lovely good bones!

I found six of these chairs last summer while out junking plus a table whose legs had been chewed beyond repair, $60.00 for all. So that comes out to about $10.00 per chair...not bad, I've paid more! These guys are rock solid and so comfortable. But that 1970"s stain, which has turned a greenish hue in places, has got to go!

 

 All four legs are wonderfully ornate!

 

 The front skirt below the seat.

Love those carved flowers!

 

 Ornate top front and back!  I bet that padded back was originally a cane back.

Some of the chairs have had a harder life than others, nasty scrapes and a chunk of flower from the top of one is missing. Two were in the process of a makeover (I guess) because the front top upholstered piece on the back is missing and it was the stabilizer piece. Since I'm using as is for now I'll have to come up with a solution for that. Thinking maybe using drop cloth as upholstery material with a French themed stencil. 

As for the rest I can live with the traditional pattern of the upholstery, it is in good condition will work in my dining area.  I don't know if my skill level is good enough to do the back part, but I'll be giving it a go. I've only recently tried my hand at cording...I definitely need more practice. The frames will be getting painted...all that glorious detail will really show when painted, dark waxed and distressed. I even have the option of painting the fabric...not sure yet how it it's going to work out.

Here's a look at all the legs together. Even though I have six of the ornate chairs only four will sit comfortably around the table at one time. I think I'll paint the table base and legs also. I enjoyed working on projects for the shop, but somehow MY to-do list never really happened. Now I'm going to put all the time and effort into fluffing my own nest.!!!

 The cabinet at back holds my linens, serving pieces, odds & ends table stuff.

 So my solution for the two chairs that I'll need to re-upholster the back on is...they will sit on each side of this cabinet in the dining area and can easily be squeezed pulled in when more are needed. And hopefully showcase their stylish new look.

 So that is how I'm reducing the amount of chairs in my garage...by replacing six large with four smaller ones!!!  Makes perfect sense to me;~)

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Amaze Me Monday

 Lets Talk Vintage
Ivy & Elephants
My Salvaged Treasures

Sweet & Simple Fridays

Thank you for popping in~~~

Happy Hunting and Gathering!!!

It was a White Christmas

Well~~~sort of

I took a couple of days off after Christmas to work on some items for my shop.  Here's a look at what I got finished. 

First up is a bench that I've been wanting to get done. I just polished up the frame and left it the way I found it, I had three of these Bakers Economalt bags, I sold two and kept this one for a future project.  I really like how it turned out.





 

A trio of Angels~~~gold frame, gold angels~~~Oohlala~~~Now they are white!!! 

The smaller ornate frame was made in Holland I just gave it and the large frame a wash of white and a bit of a rub off to show a little gold.  All I had to do to the chalkboard was to tape it off and paint the chalkboard paint on to it and add a couple of hangers to the back.



And again white, white, white. The Lyre magazine/book holder is cast iron and was gold. The little victorian looking vase was brass...so much cuter in white. The heart and star box was a maroon red...Much better in romantic white. Two small oil on canvas of Blue Roses, the roses really bloom with these white frames.


And the little bird? Didn't do a thing except give him a bath, found him at the thrift store and he asked me tweetly if I would take him to live at my shop. He's a soft translucent yellow with hand painted roses in a soft peach.

These two lovlies have been hanging out in my living room on the waiting list to be transformed.  They have springs in the seats and I had to figure out how to replace one side.  It was a challenge strength wise but a great skill to learn~~~I'll never pass up one that needs repaired again. I went traditional on the covering and used a harlequin decor fabric that I had. And again I just polished up the frames and left as is, they were in fantastic shape.  And a few darker toned pieces with all that white makes a nice balance.

And finally this adorable little magazine/night stand. I just applied the plaster roses from this post here. And distressed just the tiniest bit.

 

 This was one of the stars of the Marathon Trilogy series that I only completed two segments of, here is the one where I painted everything white.  I found that I could marathon sand, marathon paint, but not marathon finish all the pieces at once.  You need to concentrate on each individual item...or all the fun is gone out of it. 

~~~Happy Hunting and Gathering~~~