Ice Cream Parlor Chairs

It's been a while since I posted about a project that wasn't related to the kitchen renovation.  I was feeling like I just wanted to get a little fun project done.



 My parents had given us a bunch of these ice cream parlor chairs when they were downsizing.  I had picked up some black spray paint to touch up our wrought iron outdoor furniture, and decided to take these out of the garage and see how they would clean up.

I needed to remove the seat so that I can re-cover the cushion.  That's when I realized that this would split the chair into three pieces.

That made it easier to scrub them over with the wire brush to remove old chipping & peeling paint.

Then it took a couple of rounds of spraying to get all of the nooks & crannies without drips. 

I just rotated around to each piece of furniture to allow some drying time in between coats...

I wanted to get a material that would go with the house once it get's repainted when the extension is done.  That lead me to pick this print...

The photos make it look brighter red than it looks in person!

I also picked up some batting, so that there would be a little bit of cushion.

Since some of the chairs don't have seats at all, and others were cracked or just feeling less stable than others, Mike took the wooden seat from the chair above and used it as a template to cut new ones for me.  

I then covered the wood seat with the batting & material, securing it using the staple gun.  Then I re-assembled the chair.

 I'm quite please with the results!

One down... several more to go!

Update- check it out!  My chairs were featured on "The Dedicated House"!   Kathryn hosts a Before & After party that is a great place for DIY inspiration!