The Mermaid Chair

Isn't she a beauty!!!

Here's her story...

I bought this chair at a yard sale for $2. There was just something about the shape, and age, and style of the chair that made me buy it. The condition, however was not so wonderful.

The previous owners must have left it outside, as it was very weathered, had been visited by birds, and upon closer inspection, may have been in a fire.

But...she had potential. I knew that she could be beautiful!

Here is the original condition, as I found her.

$2 price tag

The seat was covered with rotted leather and stuffed with what we believe to be horsehair.

We removed the rotted seat and thought that maybe it was for a chamber pot, but soon realized that it was originally a cane seat.

We started to scrub the chair, and were intending to clean, sand, and re-stain, and possibly get a quote for cane-ing, but, after an hour of just trying to remove the dirt, decided that we would sand, distress, and paint instead.

I sanded her for almost 3 hours on a Sunday morning, when the temperatures were in the low 100's (yuck, it's been so hot here in Maryland this year)

Then, Scott took the chair and used his air compressor to remove all of the sanding remnants, and he dropped her.

And she broke her leg

And I cried

And he fixed her

(Gorilla glue and an air screw gun)

Then we painted her Whitecap Gray from MyColor Pantone (Lowes)

I wanted an off white/ivory color, and that is what this paint is- I don't see "Gray"

This paint is self priming, and drys pretty quickly. 

We used two coats.

Then Scott distressed the old fashioned way by randomly marking areas of the chair with a white candle.

 (Use what you have!)

He then Painted her with Valspar's Mermaid's Song paint. 

(OHHH..so that's why she's called the Mermaid chair!!)

And we distressed with Steel Wool in all of the right places, and recovered the seat with padding and a floral fabric.

Here is the finished project!

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