{Summer projects - chairs}

Wooo hoooo! As of 5pm this afternoon I am now officially on leave for almost a month. Whilst there is undoubtedly a huge sense of elation to be off work, there is an almost equally huge sense of panic as well - there is so much I would like to, and need to, get done in the next month, aside from refurb projects, business stuff, and new projects/collaborations I am trying to get established. As they say, one step at a time right?

The second summer project I would like to get headway on is restoring two chairs I picked up a couple of months back at the St Vinnie's. There is a car park at the rear which is supposed to be for the neighbouring banks clients, but, between you and I, I often, okay always, park there when I stop into the St Vincent's because its just much handier.

The perk of my parking immorality is that I get to see the odds and sods which have been recently donated at the back door, and scavenge them before they hit the shop floor! This my disciples is how I came to be the proud owner of this for the bargain price of just $10.00, a pair(!).

As soon as I saw them I was instantly reminded of this stunning chair of Evie's which I have spent many a moment day dreaming of since laying my eyes on it; the fabric is one of Evie's designs.

 

Already the chair is causing me a bit of a conundrum; I love Evie's chair, and basically want to burgle her and make it mine. Sadly there are issues with doing so, firstly I am at one end of the country, and she at the other; plus I kind of like her, and I try avoiding doing mean things to people I like; lastly (but least importantly in this situation), it's illegal.

So my thoughts are at this stage to just burgle her idea, but in a nice way, not the mean way. The way that goes something along these lines:
Me: Oh wow I really admire your work Evie, can I share it with my blog friends
Evie: Yes, yes you can cos you're really cool Brumby (okay that last bit I made up made up for dramatic effect)
Me: Thanks, I won't tell anyone that you gave me the idea, and then I'll reproduce your work by tracing it or something  and claim it as my own  I will be sure to mention how cool your work is, and link to your site so everyone else can admire your work too.

I cannot yet decide if I am going to stain the wood in black stain with a gloss black lacquer, or paint it black, I am leaning towards stain, but multiple layers so it confuses the lines between paint and stain.There used to be a Feast Watson product called China black which fits that description, I'll have to explore.

I am going to switch out the cane back and make it cushioned, I definitely want to mimic the upholstery nails, undecided if I will opt for black or silver yet, I guess that will ultimately depend on the fabric deisgn and colours.

As for the fabric, this is another conundrum (maybe I should christen it the conundrum chair?), which fabric to choose... you may recall I was admiring another of Evie's designs back in May, part of me would dearly love to commission Evie to print fabric for me in this design, but the bank balance is saying 'have you looked at me lately?'. So what for an alternative then? These are my top picks of inspiration:

A quilted version of an image:

A crazy runny paint mess:

Some sort of funky tapestry like thing:

Graffiti inspired stencil art:

Whichever option I choose the colour scheme is going to be black, white, grey and silver (its the new theme for my house throughout except the office) So, thoughts? Suggestions? Alternatives? We could make it a collaborative conundrum chair...

**All inspiration images sourced via Pinterest, except for Evie's chair which was kindly supplied.