In case you were wondering,
I have been busy.
I have put away the vacation pictures
and gotten back to work.
Children of mine:
Take a good long look
because this chair
is
going
down!
"you mean the chairs we grew up with?"
My children have a tendency to get attached to things around the house
When I sold my tacky metal kitchen canisters in a garage sale,
my dear Blee about had cardiac arrest,
and I was made to feel so bad
that I had to go buy some matching ones
at somebody else's garage sale!
sheesh!
I don't know what Kevin will do when I ditch the sofa,
I'm sure there will be some drama...
I did play with the idea of buying a new dinette set
and moving these monsters downstairs
for a game area.
But these chairs are built strong and heavy,
and I have not seen any new ones out there that could hold up
to my family.
Why spend money on new ones when
you can make the old ones look great,
with a little sanding and some spray paint?
Right?
Did I say a LITTLE SANDING?
I tried the mouse sander, the sanding blocks, stripper on the first one,
and have discovered
that removing 20plus years of grime and wax and dirt
takes a little more than a little sanding!
It has boiled down to this...
hours and hours
of sanding with little bits of 100 grit paper.
Gallons of coffee.
Gallons of sweat.
Entire trash bags full of used bits of sandpaper,
and some very sore fingers, back and shoulders!
Do you see all those spindles?
Do you see all those curves?
Please be patient Grasshopper.
Three down.
And three to go.
I gave myself two days to rest my fingers and shoulders
and today I'm back at it.
Celebrate Labor Day!
Go do something you've been wanting to do
but were afraid it was too big, too hard, too messy.
Go throw yourself at something you've been putting off.
Go give something all you've got.
Don't be afraid....you can do it!
I think I would have taken them someplace to be dipped! You're working very hard. And they look beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWay to go, MIL! I love them!!! I have been brush painting on chairs for my beautiful new patio table. What a pain! I probably should have just bought spray paint but wanted to use up some of the gazillion little sample containers we have in the basement. Too bad we can't paint chairs side by side!
ReplyDeleteYou are so HARD CORE, mom! I'm so glad that A. you didn't ditch those chairs b/c truly, they are really sturdy, solid chairs--even after YEARS of Huebner abuse and you'd spend a FORTUNE trying to find a new set that well built and B. that looks like a HUGE undertaking--those things did have some funky sticky grime going on, didn't they? finally, C. You want to work on our table/chairs when you come? (or at least help me chose new fabric for them? I think I'm just going to have someone else re-do the seats and leave the wood alone).
ReplyDeleteThese remind me of the chairs I've had for over twenty years. I bought a table/chairs when living in Amish country in Northern Ohio. They are the best chairs around; I can't imagine ever getting rid of them. So glad you recycled. My mom and dad have several things I've tagged my name to with plans on them being in my home one day... in particular a rocking chair that they bought just after they were married--50 years ago!
ReplyDeletepeace~elaine
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Those chairs look like alot of work to redo, but looks like you've made alot of progress. Love the change you're going for.
ReplyDeleteMary Beth, I can only imagine how hard it was to sand all those spindles. Great job and now you will enjoy the chairs for many years. Thank you for your visit and the kind comment you left about the nasty remarks. I do appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Sherry
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and for your kind comments. If you can redo chairs like this you can definitely sew a few drapes. Your chairs looks like much more work. They came out beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a transformation!! All of that sanding must have been a lot of work.
ReplyDelete