Thursday's Theme - {Sitting Down on the Job}

I've been sitting down on the job again, working on more projects with old chairs.

Believe it or not, even after all the chair projects I did a few weeks ago,
I still have more chairs left in my workshop.  Seriously, where they all came from, I don't know, because I don't even remember buying them all.  Anyway, I have this long counter in my workshop that I'd love to actually do some work on, but it's been stacked up with chairs ever since we moved in last year.  There's hope I may actually be able to use counter now, instead of using my kitchen table for all my painting and pounding.

I had this chair seat that no longer had the back.  Actually, I have 2 of them.  

 I thought it would make a nice stool or little side table, so I painted and distressed it,
then stenciled this pretty scrolled design on it.  I've listed it in my shop, but I'm okay
with keeping it too, because we can always use it as an extra seat at our kitchen table if we need it, but it looks cute in the living room as a little side table as well.

I grabbed another chair and brought it in the house and was getting ready to tear it apart, so I could come up with something to do with it, when I realized it wasn't broke.  I actually brought home a chair that could be sat upon!  Now, we don't actually have a need for another chair in the house, but I wasn't going to destroy a perfectly good, antique chair, so I'll make room for it somewhere.

It gave it a makeover with two-tone gray paint to match the seat, which I recovered in a well-worn antique grain sack.

I also had a pretty caned chair, but part of the caning was breaking through.  Whoever owned it before me had woven a bunch of ribbon through the cane to stabilize it, but it didn't look very attractive, so I decided to repurpose all the parts of that chair as well.  I added a bread pan to the seat, which helps disguise the weakened caned area, and makes a wall basket now.

The front legs got bread pans also, for a double wall basket.

I added a darker stain to the legs, which accents the wood grain nicely.

The back rest got turned into a wall shelf.  I used more of the wood I got from a demolished historic courthouse in Missouri, but I used the rougher underside for the shelf, as it brought out the area I distressed after painting the back rest.

This chair was, by far, the one that challenged me the most.
It was a totally broken, ancient rocking chair.
I tried several different things on it, none of which I liked, then I realized it reminded me of a weathered old sign, hanging at a summer camp, so I painted part of a cabinet door with chalkboard paint and added it behind the backrest.

The chalkboard has a rustic finish, in keeping with the "campish" rugged look of the piece.
Beyond that, I didn't mess with the back rest at all.  It has so much chippy, old character and didn't need my assistance.

The final chair part I worked on was this pair of legs.  I was the least excited about doing something with this part, because they weren't pretty, shapely legs, but it ended up being one of my favorite makeovers.

I wrapped some jute webbing around the spindles, which photos & ephemera can be attached to.

I love the contrast of the wood and the jute webbing.

 I also added a few old nails to the bottom rung, to hang things on.

I think it's adorable now, with some garden shed decor hanging on it.

I've had this old beauty for several years.  I toted her home from a farmhouse auction and love her bare bones look.  The problem is she's really big.  I don't have room in my little house for a large chair that can't be sat upon, and I don't have a booth where I can sell her.  I can't even keep this old girl in my workshop, because she takes up too much space in there...so she's sat outside my workshop for over a year - exposed to the elements.

Yes...I feel guilty.

As much as it pains me to do it, my husband is disassembling her for me, so I can at least turn her lovely parts into smaller, useful things...hopefully.  Yes, I went back and forth on that decision several times, but finally decided it needed to be done, before the she is completely ruined by the weather.  I just hope I don't mess them up, or I'll be crushed with guilt.

I'll let you know what she becomes.  

All these items are available HERE, (except the one with the shelf, it has sold).

If you missed my previous post on other repurposed chair parts, click on this photo to see it.


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Blessings,

Angie

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