Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Chairs for Charity - Some 'Before' some 'After'

There are a ton of chairs just hanging out in our sunroom at the moment.  It looks like this, only worse now because there are actually MORE chairs than when I originally took this picture.
 

The yellow parson's-style chairs in the photo above are especially fascinating.  I knew they were old as the women who donated them told me they had originally been a part of the Granite Club (Toronto's version of a country club). 

When I was taking apart the chairs, I knew they were old because
a) they were made of real wood,
b) they were stuffed with horse hair and
c) there was a stamp that said "Made in Holland" and a paper sticker that said "J&J Kohn and Mundus New York Toronto." 

I did a little sleuthing and found out that J&J Kohn and Mundus were European companies that merged around 1922 and had both a NY and Toronto branch.  Chairs were made in various countries in Europe, including Holland. 

These chairs are likely almost 90 years old!!  Awesome!

Now the chair is naked and waiting for some new clothes...I have just the thing!  Stay tuned for more details here. 





I collected 5 of these pink plush chairs.  Four of them came from a funeral home (think 'Six Feet Under') and one from another donor, origins unknown. 

The trick is to make these 5 chairs look unique...sort of same-same but different?

Yes?


 The first of the 5 is what I like to call the 'Rambling Rose' chair.  Please excuse the quality of the photos.  I am clearly NOT a photographer. 

I have ideas for Pink Chair makeovers #2-#5...but it takes a lot of time to remove all of the old fabric (staples galore!) so don't hold your breath for pictures this week...they're coming!

For now, check out this office chair transformation a la buttons. 


 Here's a close of up that hand stitching and button work.  Fun stuff! 


Check out the Chairs for Charity event details on our Facebook page.

Ciao!

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