Monday 11 March 2013

Reupholstered Bar Stools







The other day when Casper and I were out walking, I spotted a sign that said 'FREE SHIT' next to a pile of well, free shit. The first fact to know about me is that I love a bit of hard rubbish, alleyway treasure or broken goods that nobody wants anymore. The trouble is, we haven't got any room in our house for any more stuff. So when I saw these 60s revival bar stools from the 90s looking rather shabby with peeling black fake leather seats, I knew I had to make up an excuse to take them home and re-revive them!

Our kitchen has a little bar-bench jutting out of it with space for stools but over the years the wooden ones we had for that space have worn out and broken, leaving us with just one (which is on its last legs {pun intended}).

 With my good excuse at the ready, I grabbed the incredibly heavy and gross looking seats and made a run for it. You know how when there is stuff for free on the street you feel like you are stealing when you take it? It is an unnecessarily exhilarating joy for me. 

I already had the material I wanted to use in mind -the silk crushed velvet curtains from my childhood bedroom window which I had already cut into for these elbow patches. So I unscrewed the bottom of the stools and got staple-happy with the velvet. It only took me about 40 minutes to do all three chairs, so a very satisfying and quick spruce up!

And here they are so lovely and wacky looking, just my style. Did I fail to mention that they are adjustable and fully swivvelable??? So much more fun than the old non-swivel wooden stools, don't you think?

My amazing friend Amanda saw this and wrote a fantastic story of this velvet's previous life:

so here is the backstory:
That green velvet curtain came from chez Chris and Amanda. Prior to that it lived in the Fitzroy terrace of Paul Mullen, father of our old friend Saul. Saul was a doctor and his dad Paul is a forensic psychologist.
In a sweet twist, Saul our friend had barstools JUST LIKE THAT in his and Natasha's Latrobe street apartment in the 90's...

"ooh hello", says velvet-with-a-crush to the very erect chairs. "have we met before?" 


7 comments:

  1. so here is the backstory:
    that green velvet curtain came from chez Chris and Amanda. Prior to that it lived in the Fitzroy terrace of Paul Mullen, father of our old friend Saul. Saul was a doctor and his dad Paul is a forensic psychologist who counselled Martin Bryant for years after the massacre.
    In a sweet twist, Saul our friend had barstools JUST LIKE THAT in his and Natasha's Latrobe street apartment in the 90's...

    "ooh hello", says velvet-with-a-crush to the very erect chairs. "have we met before?" Amanda.

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  2. I love hard rubbish week. I love taking stuff home to give it another life. Years ago I found an old bench seat from a vintage car on the side of the road. Dragged that beast all the way home, and up flights of stairs (I lived in a townhouse at the time), re-covered it, and it became the most used seat in the house. Win win. Free stuff. Recycling stuff.

    http://iliska-dreams.blogspot.com.au/

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  3. AMAZING!!! I love them!! You did a fantastic job!

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  4. Oh love it and no waste, even better!

    xxx

    www.mindfullygreen.com.au

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  5. I have been lamenting the ugliness of our current stools, which were someone else's offcasts, and dying for some new ones. I love the idea of hard rubbish! And erect stools! and, well, free shit!

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  6. Awesome finds Ruby and velvet crushed or otherwise is my second favourite fabric after corduroy. mel x

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