Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A Housewife Gets Handy!

So I've been getting a little handy in my old age. A few months ago, I scored my dream kitchen chairs off Craig's List. Well, not exactly "dream" - but style wise, they were just what I was looking for. They were beat up but only $50 for the set. I probably could have talked the lady down, but I'm a wuss when it comes to stuff like that. I just say "Here you go!" and hand the people the cash. I figured I would refinish them. Here's how I did:

Here is what 3 out of the 4 looked like before. I did try to use mineral spirits and even paint thinner a while ago to get the stain off as I wanted to restain them. It didn't work. I thought about sanding them, but with all the little grooves on the legs, I was not going to do that. So I figured I would just paint them. That's why God invented paint, right?


Now two of the chairs were a little wobbly. They were missing some of their corner supports. This was a simple fix. I went up to Lowe's and bought a four pack of corner supports (with screws) for $2.74. I went in the basement and found my husband's cordless drill. I drilled the holes where the screws would go and screwed in the screws! Simple!

A note to all Handy Housewives: When attempting to do something like this, do not call the husband and ask where certain tools are. Just scurry around their space when you get a chance and look for what you need. If you tell the husband you want to use his power tools, he will get nervous and not tell you where they are.


Voila! The work of a Handy Housewife!

Then I painted away. The one on the left is before. The right is after. I personally think they look better in person than what this picture makes them out to be like. So how much did my 4 chairs cost?...
4 Wooden Chairs off Craig's List (they came from Back Bay in Boston - oooh so classy!): $12.50 ea
Delivery Charge: $0
Tax: $0
Refurb Charges (paint and hardware): $9.93

Total: $59.93 (or $14.98 ea)

2 comments:

The Mom said...

very cool. I love the paint. Next time try powerwashing them first if you want to get rid of that grime and gunk. I so would have bought those chairs too.

Celeste said...

I am in awe of you.