These chairs can be picked up for very little dollars on
ebay but the luminous red of this chair that is supposed to be mahogany is awful. I like the red padded velour cushioning but the timber had to be changed. So I needed to pull it apart. Fun!! To loosen the glue I put the chair in the microwave for 15 seconds. Careful lot to loosen up too much glue holding the timber together! The glue softens and then the fabric panel came off very easliy. I hit the timber with the paint stripper and washed it off. I wasn't to fussy in getting all the stain off. Sat it in my warm oven for ten minutes to get it to dry out. We are actually having a cold winter here this year so I've taken to drying things out in my oven. I gave it a light sanding all over paying attention to rounding off the edges. I
didn't want it too dark and I'm generally lazy/impatient so instead of tackling a can of wood stain I used dark tan shoe polish. Just rubbed it on with a cloth let it sit and went over it again to make sure there
wasn't any excess left.
I wanted the velour to be worn and rubbed back. Velour is cotton so when it is burnt it doesn't melt like polyester but singes and falls away. So I hit it with a flame on the areas that would be
typically worn with age. Sometimes it does catch alight but I just blew it out. Keep moving the fabric over the
flame to stop it catching alight. When it cools off just rub over it with a cloth and the blackened cotton comes away leaving the even weave underneath. For a more frayed look just keep having small goes at it till it comes away. Then just glue it all back in place.
It was a very red chair.
Realised that I had been procrastinating over colours and stuff over my little cottage furniture so i just jumped in. Picked up a brush and with the motto 'I can always make another one if I fluff it' in mind just started. Gave my little sink cupboard a light blue wash. It needs a bit more grunging in the corners. but not too much or people will think the lady of the house is rather unkempt.
I finally set about painting my little sloped cupboard. Didn't have a clue what colour and still really don't. I just sort of started with something harmless which was cream. Then a wash of burgundy, some sanding followed by dark tan shoe polish. It has a red cast to it and not really brown at all. Buffed it on and then went back over the cracks and grooves with more polish on a horrible paintbrush to add built up age. I added the poster cause the ides of painting it made me pull faces. I remember watching documentaries etc on the Depression and in other hard times and people used whatever they could for decoration. I wanted a handle so hit my box of findings and I made one from bending a small jewelry connector and the little keyhole I bought ages ago from somewhere!
