Granny's kitchen chairs
I inherited among other things my maternal grandmother's kitchen chairs over 20 years ago. Since they have been used in student flats and the three homes I have had. They have seen two babies through toddler hood, six kittens to cats and three pups to dogs along with the odd chicken passing by.
When I got them they could have done with an overhaul but life was too busy. In December 2010 the kids and I had a enforced week largely indoors due to a total of 2 feet of snow falling.
One of the jobs we decided to do was to wash the chairs and replace some of the screws as one chair in particular was liable to collapse any time. We then removed the seat and sanded down the wood before varnishing it, cleaning the seat and putting it all back together.
The result is a much safer chair which looks stunning, maybe not quite like new but much better than it did.
When I got them they could have done with an overhaul but life was too busy. In December 2010 the kids and I had a enforced week largely indoors due to a total of 2 feet of snow falling.
One of the jobs we decided to do was to wash the chairs and replace some of the screws as one chair in particular was liable to collapse any time. We then removed the seat and sanded down the wood before varnishing it, cleaning the seat and putting it all back together.
The result is a much safer chair which looks stunning, maybe not quite like new but much better than it did.
Dining chairs
Our dining chairs were bought in IKEA in 1998. Since thay have been in virtually daily use and for the last 5 years they have been in the conservatory. The cloth seat covers not surprisingly have fadded and with a variety of children sitting on them are not infrequently covered in dried food. I surface clean them regularly but they are still stained. In preparation for my mother's 80th birthday celebration we decided to recover all 10 chairs. I wanted a low carbon solution that resulted in a wipeable finish. In my searching I came accross Camira fabrics (www.camirafabrics.com) in Mirfield West Yorkshire who do a variety of low impact fabrics including e-leather. This is recycled leather made from the chavings and trimmings from the tanning industry. These pieces would end up in landfill otherwise. They currently (2011) do not sell to the public but kindly did when I explained my needs. It was then a simple task of removing the chair pads - cleaned - and stapling a cover of leather on top. It has certainly improved both the look and useability of the chairs.
