Rocking Chair Rescue

So, I am learning something about myself. I guess I always knew I was like this. It is just becoming more and more apparent as I get older. I am a scavenger. I want to save or rescue things. I don't like to throw things away that could be fixed or repurposed in some way. Yes, this has gotten me in trouble before. For example I had to have the sweetest little shelter dog I saw on petfinders. She looked just like my beloved pet who had passed a few years ago. On impulse, I had to have her. She has turned into a wonderful addition to our family but I don't think my husband wanted to get another dog at that point. 

Sometimes I am obsessed with finding a good deal.  My thriftiness comes out when I shop at garage sales and thrift stores. A lot of the things we have in our home are treasures I have found at a garage sale or local Goodwill or ICM. For example, I once bought an oil painting of a ship at our local thrift store. Because of my hubby's career, anything nautical appeals to me.  The painting was signed by the artist. I found out it was painted by a man who was featured on the cover of Liberty magazine back in the 50's. No clue what the painting is worth but for me that was enough. Then I found a wooden desk from someone on a swap site on Facebook. The desk had a logo on the inside of one of the drawers. So I Googled it and found out those desks were from a bank and many of the bank executives and secretaries used them. I looked on eBay and saw one for sale for $1500.  I got mine for $40. 

And more recently, I decide to stop at ICM on the way home yesterday. I didn't want to go because I am trying to save money and get us on a budget. But it called to me. Thank goodness! I found some beautiful clothes including a black cami sweater, a beige leather blazer l, and a gorgeous red evening gown that I will use for a party in March. There were a few other shirts in the find as well and it all came to a grand total of $18.  You can't beat that! 

Back to the rescue part.  I have been known to find things on the side of the road too. I may or may not have looked for treasures in neighborhoods after they have community garage sales. Is that tacky? My mother always said, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Last October, I found a really cute wicker rocking chair in the pile to be thrown away. I shoved it in my trunk (in the rain by the way-yes, I may have a problem) and brought it home. It rested in my garage till this Feb. I want to bring it back to life. The thing must be at least 50 years old. It still has the springs. Here is a picture.

It had a cushion at some point but it was totally weather beaten and any stuffing was long gone. The structure was good though and the only bad part I could see was the legs were a little nicked or chewed. Here is a pic of the seat part under the material. 

What a mess! This prompted me to do a Google and YouTube search for how to repair the spring part or just gut it and add a plywood base. The gutting did appeal to me but I was worried about cutting a piece of wood to fit it. Repairing the spring part shouldn't be too hard right? 

After looking up what to do, I learned there is an 8 point tying system that reupholstery people use. It was important to remove what was there in order to repeat the process. There are a bunch of little tacks that held the material onto the frame. Pull those out. Then, there were a bunch of nails holding the twine in position. Those were tougher to get out with the tools I have. But I got it all off in about 2 hours. Here is a pic of what I'm talking about. 

There is a lot of dirt around te base of this chair so I am going to clean it before I start working with the twine tying process. 

After going to Hobby Lobby for supplies, I am still laking the proper twine for this project. I did find the tacks and some beautiful chevron material that is somewhat weather resistant. For the twine issue, I enlisted the advice of my friend Chris.  She use to work for GM as a car seat upholsterer. She would know! 

She offered some twine she has that I could use. So now I just need to clean and prep the chair. I will continue this post when I get the twine and let you all know (and see) how it turns out!  Still excite to complete this so that is a good thing!