Restoring Grandpa's Rocking Chair

I love restoring old family heirlooms!

It's like saving a piece of precious family history.

I had an opportunity to do one this week:

 This was Robin's grandfather's rocking chair.

He's long gone, 

but she has wonderful memories of him

rocking in this chair.

It has been sitting out in the elements, behind a shed.

It's very weathered, the wood is splintery.

What paint is left is flaking off..

And the poor cane seat is in disrepair.

Robin wants to use it out on her screened-in porch.

I checked out the decor while I was there...

And lucky me also got to check out 

a couple glasses of wine to boot!

Okay, so back to this chair.

Any help for this old soul?

Heck yeah!!!

 After sanding off all the loose paint and weathered wood,

I added a strip to the bottom of the cane seat, 

to stabilize the caning.

  I primed the chair with a good bonding primer.

 Once the primer was dry, 

I painted the chair in Clark & Kensington 

Glossy Black exterior house paint.

 Before painting a second coat, 

I rebuilt the seat by adding webbing, foam and batting.

 Once the second coat was dry, 

I recovered the seat with this outdoor fabric.

I stapled it all along the bottom edges, 

and then added a dust cover.

(No, I don't use padded sawhorses...

I use…

Wilma's handy dandy cat tree…

Hey repurpose, folks!!!

That's what it's all about!)

 I also found this other fabric remnant 

that has some of Robin's favorite colors - 

purple and green -

So I made it into a little slipcover

and edged it in black eyelash fringe.

Robin was out of town today, 

so I decided to put the finished rocker 

on her porch to welcome her home!

(I thought it was especially fitting 

because today would have been 

her grandmother's ("Nannie's") 101st birthday. 

She passed away last year.)

I think Nannie would like the updated look!

Here it is, sporting its "summer clothes."

 And come autumn,

Robin can switch out the pillow, add the slipcover,

and presto, a new look!!!!

So many options.

Rocking chairs and porches...

well,

they just go together.

Vintage Rattan Dining Chairs Get A Botanical Spruce Up

 Today I decided to tackle this set of vintage rattan furniture...

 Remember this orange fabric from the 70's/80's?

Do you think there is anything real in this?

 The seat cushions were disgusting, 

so I removed them and then disassembled.

 I was able to save the foam, which I flipped, 

and then covered in a double layer of batting.

Much better already.

 

The chair frames were in great shape, just dirty.

So I cleaned and then dark waxed them.

And for the fabric...

I chose this linen with botanicals….

 Each seat has different flowers...

 I love the little bug on this one..

So which is your favorite?

 Here's wilma doing her personal quality check…

1

2

3

 

(look at that dive!)

 4

She can't decide either.

Let's run through them one more time...

Perfect for a sunroom or covered porch.

$199 for the set.

SheShe, The Home Magician

sheilafox@aol.com

Marrying a couple of yard sale pieces into something unique!!!!!

I found a bunch of cool stuff at a yardsale on Saturday.

Nothing really out of this world, but you know,

interesting…

and cheap.

 This little needlepoint footstool.

And this strange little six-sided table/console…

that obviously was someone's DIY project gone bad...

I'm guessing at one time it had a hinged door where this
two sided opening is.
Someone had painted it black,
and added vinyl faux ostrich skin panels.
And ball and talon feet.
Go figure!

Bizarro.

So since it was bizarre anyway,

I painted it in this bizarre paint color,

Maison Blanche's Peacock.

 And I mixed some Old White with it, 

and layered on some added coats.

 And then a little ASCP in Provence..

 And finally, Lime Wax in Chalk Grey. 

I pulled that ugly pleather thing off the top, too,
but painted all the sides.

And for the little footstool,
I painted the base, and
I added batting to plump up the top.

And recovered in this old muslin coffee sack..

And as I was looking at my creations last evening,

it dawned on me:

Why not make it into an end table with footstool storage!!!

The stool fits perfectly in the weird little opening,

and looks like a little padded door.

(I love when weird stuff like this happens!)

FOR SALE: $99 for the combo.

SheShe, The Home Magician

sheilafox@aol.com