I'm a huge failure, I know. I have given up on the Cane-Back Chair. However, I've decided to show you the start of the journey and why I've given up.
When I saw this little life-sucker I thought I could really do something with it. When I drove home with it rattling around in the back of my car, I was thinking of fabrics I could use to reupholster it. It couldn't be much more difficult than it was to upholster my rattan kitchen chairs, could it? WRONG. I've learned/confirmed a few things about myself while trying to make this chair decent:
1. I am very impatient and like instant gratification. I already knew this about myself, but this chair really proved it to me. When I ran into one big roadblock, the chair sat in my apartment for weeks until I finally gave up.
2. I will never attempt to re-upholster anything this complex again. I could have sold all the staples I pulled out of it as scrap metal and paid my rent for the month! I'm talking hundreds. Next time, if the chair isn't so perfect and amazing that I'd spend money on getting it professionally upholstered, I won't be buying it.
What happened?
Here's where I left you last with the chair. Ellie looking innocent and the chair secretly harboring it's demons (nails, staples, barbs, coils and rope).
The seal to the underworld.
Added protective barrier to the demon-seal.
Thorns that the demons left in the burlap to warn me that I'm getting too close to hell.
The resting place of the chair for nearly a week. Note the springs inside, such a nightmare.
Fast-forward a week. I've removed the demons and took no pictures. I was so fed up during the whole process that I forgot I was going to be blogging about it. Notice the huge bag of trash pulled from the chair.
The chair after I spray painted it. I had such high hopes...
What happened here that made me give up was cutting a new base for the chair. The wooden rim was uneven, so when I cut a base and placed it in the chair, it wouldn't have sat flat. I should have listened to my grandma (sorry, Dee!) and kept the springs under the cushion. You live and you learn, right? I kept the chair for a few weeks thinking about how I could get around this, but in the end I decided it would be easier to just scrap it. As much as I hate giving up, I truly don't think I have the carpentry skills to finish this. Not to mention, it has been taking up a lot of room in the apartment! I guess I'll have to keep pulling my rattan chairs up to the coffee table...
Now onto the next project!
Until next time!
-Emmi
