Tuesday, February 10, 2009

wishbone chair redux -- thrifty is in!



Okay, so you've got your eye on some cool kitchen chairs, maybe those pricey mid-century modern ones from DWR, but your budget is distinctly not DWR-friendly.  Cue what we at fergusandme like to call "design for the times" -- awesome looks on an austerity budget.  Like these cool 1951 no-name NC made wishbone chairs, scored for a song at an estate sale.  They had been sadly neglected, were dusty and speckled with tar (stored in the attic -- who knew this could happen?), but were fundamentally sound. We just got to scrubbing with soap and water, pulled off the damaged pleather seat covers (check when you're buying for the telltale four screws underneath -- this generally means you can just take the screws out, pop the seat off, and commence yanking out fifty year old staples!), and got to work with the staple gun, covering the seats in our choice of spill resistant materials (our family includes a four year old who believes ketchup is a major food group!) Finally, we buffed up the wood with Briwax, in clear. Et voila! Excellent, comfy, mid-century cool chairs for practically no money.  Everyone fights over them at dinner time, honest.  Our DWR be-pop chairs, while as adorable as ever, are no longer the favorites.  This project, a total revamp on four chairs, took about two hours one recent weekend morning.  Check out the before and afters above. You can do it! Recycle, save money, be thrifty.  It's the new economy, whether we like it or not.

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