This chair is still an adventure in the making…
It seems like I am definitely doing this in phases. I think it’s partly because of time (not having enough of it)… and partly avoidance. I think that fear that I spoke about in the kick-off of this little project is still speaking to my brain. That said… I will persevere!!!
She is now what I refer to as ‘naked’. Before I start to dress her back up in her new outfit, I thought I’d post a progress report. Stripping her down was interesting – both visually and mentally. I uncovered a few things that surprised me and got me wondering even more!
I thought it was mauve?!? As I started to take apart the old and fragile upholstery from the chair, I realized that what I always pictured as being a subtle mauve patterned material, was once navy! Yep… at one point, someone painted right over the navy pattern and made it mauve. This made me wonder a few things: Was grandma the original owner? If so, did she do this or have someone do it for her? And why? If she wasn’t the original owner, I wonder who was… and how many owners there might have been. How did grandma acquire the chair. Was it a gift? Was it handed down from an even older generation?
How can you tell the age of this chair? I honestly don’t even know how hold this chair might be. I searched every inch of the chair before I started sanding it down to see if I could find a date – nothing. From reading online, you can sometimes tell by the way it’s made. This one has some very old springs, stuffed with straw as padding, and a thin layer of pressed cotton wrapped with burlap before the upholstery begins. Maybe someday I’ll be able to find something that really tells me how old this chair is, but for now I can’t tell. I’m pretty sure it’s not from the eighteenth century as many antique chairs are… but I do believe it’s from the early to mid 1900s. Grandma lived with us in the 1980s, and had this chair for a very long time before that. I remember seeing it in her bedroom at her house as a very young girl when I visited. Truth is… I may never know, which is part of the mysterious adventure I suppose.
The next phase of this journey is what I most fear… I don’t want to ‘mess it up’. That said, I’ve purchased the paint, the finish, and even the new upholstery. Stay tuned for Part 3… the big reveal!
I am so excited to see her “new outfit!” Thanks for sharing an update, the suspense was killing me!