Wednesday, August 5, 2015

The Haybarn Chair

A Very Rainy Wednesday Good Afternoon dear friends & readers

After my make-over on the $2 chair in this post here, The Mr came home with this "rather lovely" chair tossed on the back of his ute


It had been sitting in the haybarn at the farm since time began for a very long time, & birds had used it for free parking as well as the numerous spiders that had taken up residence in it
Even Blackie was intrigued with its many smells . . .

Definately smells of mice I think !!!!

First up, a good scrub using a strong mixture of sugar soap & disinfectant .  .  .

.  .  .  which kind of transformed it somewhat

I bought it inside & have spent the past days while I have been on "Pippi confinement" painting it by the fire.
 I have done this over several days as it needed four coats & I had a helper that was unfortunately, not optional, 
so it has been a long process as I am sure you can imagine

Little bit missed on the back here Mum
I often wonder what they thought at the Vets while Pippi was under anaesthetic & they got to witness all the bits of white paint on her??!!


When I was satisfied with the coverage, I left it for an entire 24 hours to harden by the fire.  
This wouldn't be quite so necessary if it wasn't winter-time.
Next on the list was to sand & distress the edges, just lightly, not too shabby.

As I envisaged this as a kind of bedroom chair, sort of soft & feminine, I decided to use a selection of doilies & vintage linens to cover the squab
sort of a similar effect to the footstool in this post here

I attached these to a calico backing as it needed to disguise the red of the squab ... overlocked the edges, then spent several hours hunting in The Mr's shed for his staplegun 
(which incidently, I am sure he hides from me!!!)

The covered squab - a nice patchwork effect & lovely if you can't decide which doiley you actually prefer to use .... Use them all I say !!!

But,  as usual - "something" was missing . . . ah yes, a cushion perhaps??
 I had put aside these 4 gorgeous vintage serviettes which were amongst my linens - I thought they might make a lovely little squashy cushion for the back of the chair - more for looks than practicality to be honest

The addition of a beautiful vintage bakelite coat button & my squashy patchwork cushion was complete . . . 



Hard to photograph on this grey rainy winters day but viola . . .



Another chair saved from landfill . . . this little petal will be going for sale in my Cottage
And speaking of little petals .... thank you SO much for your kind words & well wishes on my last post regarding little Pippi's surgery



She gets her wound stitches out this Friday & then hopefully, she will be back to "as normal as it gets for Pippi".  
As you can see above, she is continuing to milk it for all its worth make the most of the care & attention
And as for Blackie . . . well some pictures speak for themselves



And look Willie, leg in the air today   :-)
Thank you for brightening this rainy day today with your visits,
I hope you enjoyed my little repurposing story & that you look twice at those chairs next time you are sending them off to the dump
Have a wonderful rest of the week dear friends,
with love & friendship,
Julie, Blackie & Miss Pippi Longstocking
x0x0x0

21 comments:

  1. HaHa! Bless!
    The chair looks really nice Julie...Goodness and
    for $2..You certainly did a marvellous job on it.
    (with a little help of course)...
    The seat nice to, nicer with a furry one asleep on
    top of it...! :).

    Pippi in her basket, looks like you'll have to get her
    a bigger size soon. And Blackie..Bless that little leg. :).
    Such a poser...! HeHe!

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  2. That's it, book me in for a lesson!! Look gorgeous.

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  3. Another gem...you are 'Queen of the Rescues'. Can I ask a technical question, what type of paint do you use?
    xx

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    1. Hello E.E. Ooohhh I love technical questions .... I needed to buy some new paint as have quite a few projects needing doing. I went to my local hardware store, bearing in mind I usually have a budget of $0. I just bought what I always buy, the cheap interior household paint, water based (always) this one was a satin sheen. I get it tinted to my colour which is always "cottage cream". I find if I buy the satin sheen rather than the flat paint, it is more wipeable for the furniture etc that I do. I am thinking because I buy cheaper quality paint, that is why I need to give it four coats rather than just three. If I have any interior wall paint lying around here, I just use that. Hope this helps. Also, here in New Zealand you can buy test pots of colours, & I have used those before with good effect.

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    2. Thanks Julie... I won't bother buying expensive chalk paint as yours looks pretty good to me. xx

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  4. When it comes to doilies, the more the merrier I always say!! Love your beautiful new chair, Julie!!

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  5. BEAUTIFUL. I want to come to your shop...with a trailer and a boat so I can bring everything across the waters to my place.

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  6. Wow! How beautiful your chair is - absolutely wonderful. No landfill for that one - too right! And Pippi and Blackie - too adorable for words - they are treasures!

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  7. Oh my! How gorgeous is that chair and cushion now!!!!! You have done a fabulous job Julie. I must have missed little Pippa's mishap...hoe she is recuperating well xx

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  8. I love the doiley chair it is gorgeous!!

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  9. Hello Julie,

    The chair looks so different now. I do love the cushion made with the serviettes. Glad to hear that the little one is recovering from the op.

    Happy days and enjoy that rain.
    Bev.

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  10. The chair looks so different!! Love the little cushion on the chair too....when we moved house we sold ($2) some old chairs to a lady who was going to revamp them. So much better than going to the tip as you say! Both cats look very chilled and happy!!

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  11. I remember that chair! WOW very VERY pretty now! Not so much before though. Your fur balls sure have the life! Hugs my friendxx

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  12. The chairs came out well, our chairs are falling apart and we have to keep sticking them together! think they really do need replacing!

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  13. Oohh Julie, I do love that shabby chic style you have done for the chair. It looks beautiful.Glad to see Miss Pippi making good progress. Hugs Shirley

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  14. What a transformation - I love the use of the vintage doilies.

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    1. Thanks so much Phil - I was really pleased with how it turned out & now want to get back into the haybarn & see what else I can find :-)

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  16. You, my dear, are one extremely creative lady!
    I love that Blackie had a little nose at it, and Pippi, ha! I have a mischievous helper just like her ♥

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  17. Hello dear girl. I adore what you've done with that dreadful old chair. Quite a mission. Well done! He he...don't suppose you'll have before & after pics of it over at the cottage. I do hope that that little Pippi is starting to really pick up now. Hopefully she'll have a glorious summer cavorting outside happily. Silly old thing. It's freezing again over here tonight. Thank goodness for firewood & a wetback! Do you have any violets or daffodils out yet over your way? Just seeing the first shoots on the roses...better hurry up & finish the stragglers, hadn't I. Much love to you & the ninnies, Catherine x0x0x

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  18. Reading all these posts in bulk and all this creativeness I'm having raptures here lmao! Love the idea of the square doilies in a cushion like that :D The chairs is awesome x

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