I was trawling through the wonderful finds on TradeMe this morning, dreaming of the day I am in a 'settled' situation and I can snap up some of these goodies, and came across this sweet old 'Don' chair - obviously it is in need of a bit of TLC but it gives me goose bumps just thinking how fab it could look!
I think a lot of people don't realise how easy it is to sand/scrape back the timber on these chairs, give them a good oil, and how you only need basic sewing skills to re-cover the squabs. If you can find a really cool fabric, you will have an instant 'new' chair. Check the springs first to make sure they aren't broken (you will need to get an upholsterer to replace them if they are), and check the foam to make sure it isn't rotting or disintegrating inside (this can easily be replaced).
If all else fails, and it goes in the 'too hard' basket, there is a fantastic place in Wellington, ES Design, who specialise in restoring and re-upholstering old chairs, in particular mid 20th century styles like this! Check them out here, or visit them at 1 Marion St, Wellington.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
DIY TradeMe Trawl
I was trawling through the wonderful finds on TradeMe this morning, dreaming of the day I am in a 'settled' situation and I can snap up some of these goodies, and came across this sweet old 'Don' chair - obviously it is in need of a bit of TLC but it gives me goose bumps just thinking how fab it could look!
I think a lot of people don't realise how easy it is to sand/scrape back the timber on these chairs, give them a good oil, and how you only need basic sewing skills to re-cover the squabs. If you can find a really cool fabric, you will have an instant 'new' chair. Check the springs first to make sure they aren't broken (you will need to get an upholsterer to replace them if they are), and check the foam to make sure it isn't rotting or disintegrating inside (this can easily be replaced).
If all else fails, and it goes in the 'too hard' basket, there is a fantastic place in Wellington, ES Design, who specialise in restoring and re-upholstering old chairs, in particular mid 20th century styles like this! Check them out here, or visit them at 1 Marion St, Wellington.
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2 comments:
I love these chairs - mine came out of the inorganic rubbish collection about 3 weeks after I first arrived in NZ. I scurried across the street like some sort of criminal, not realising it was quite acceptable to rummage through other people's unwanted stuff :) It was the just the frame and had a few springs missing, but I managed to jury-rig a couple of ordinary upholstery springs and they've held for about 8 years now. The wood came up beautifully with a strip and sand and then Danish Oil, and all-in-all they're pretty style-y chairs when done up properly. Yours has very nice lines.
May I post your tile on my blog?
Yes I have been known to go through skips on the side of the road! Am happy for you to post my tile, thanks :)
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