Brighten the Corner*

Here's a small project I can lay claim to. We were given three chairs and a table just for clearing them out of a family member's basement. Here's one of the chairs before.


And after.


After sanding, priming, painting, re-sanding--wet this time--and re-painting. Paint on the seat bubbled up the first time. Either I hadn't sufficiently sanded, or the primer and paint were incompatible. Still learning.

So now, this cheery red chair brightens a corner of the deck. For more brightness, there happened to be some wildflowers growing among the weeds down the hill.


*In my youth, I sang alto in church with a girls' trio--creatively called The Girls' Trio. I'm pretty sure we weren't that good; bless the hearts of the folks who patiently listened to and encouraged us! 'Brighten the Corner' was one of 'our' songs. We loved to sing the last phrase:

Brighten the corner
Where (soprano)
Where (second soprano)
Where (alto)
You (and so on)
You
You
Are! (three-part harmony)

Oh No I Didn't!

No, I didn't restore this French-inspired kitchen set! The hubs suggested we leave the job to a professional and frankly, he didn't have to ask me twice. Maybe with a little more experience, I would've considered tackling such a large project, but I just didn't feel ready to take the risk.

A craigslist find, she originally sported some old, stained off-white polyester cushions, a highly lacquered, black-spattered finish, and a sizeable variety of nicks.


However, we were able to see past her surface blemishes to her shapely tabletop, beautiful wood grain, cute skirt, and well-maintained cane. So Anita at Heirloom Furniture Restoration worked her magic, and we were thrilled with the outcome. (We could use a larger rug now!)


I did manage to re-cover the chair cushions with this red and white home dec fabric. Ticking has always been a favorite of mine. I also sprayed each cushion with a stain repellant.

Thanks to craigslist and Anita, we're enjoying the new look in the nook!