Thursday 30 January 2014

There Is Something Very Special About This Chair...

There is something very special about this chair, and it's not just that it's holding my birthday presents until I open them tomorrow.
 Here, I'll take those off so you can see it properly.
Actually, there's a lot of special things about this chair.  First thing is, there's only one of it, which, if it's not to your taste, you're probably glad to hear.  I can see it's a chair you either love or hate on sight.
The second special thing about this chair is that I rescued it.  Technically, I rescued it twice.  I made it; rather I put it together from two old chairs and some bits and bobs.
This is our story, mine and the chairs:
Many years ago now, I was not living somewhere safe and secure.  The only place I could find to rent at short notice and without getting rid of most of the few things I had was actually a storage space under an old style high set house.  I could use their kitchen and bathroom at least but to say my room was a "bedroom" is a joke.  It was a storage space.  It had an old lumpy bed and a little side table.  The floor was dirt and the floor of the house above was unsealed so my wake up call every morning was sand and grit raining down on my face from above as the little girl of the house ran around getting ready for school.  There was no electric light, I had a small battery powered one but not enough to read or study by.  There was a wardrobe of sorts, but it had no doors.
But then, one day, my favourite thing ever happened: Hard Rubbish Collection!  You guys, it's like an op shop but it's free and on everyone's lawn, as if you didn't know I'd love that!
I saw the blue chair frame in my immediate neighbour's pile.  I saw it had no seat.  I stroked the chair frame and told it "I wish I could fix you, then I could keep you and save you.  I'll save myself one day." because paying actual money to live in a storage space drives you a little bit batty.
For two days I thought about that lovely chair frame.  I liked the colour and the shape.
Then, the day before pickup in my area, I went out for a walk.  I decided to go down a street I'd never been down before, just to see what was there.  That's when I saw it: a clinical, boring-looking ubiquitous metal chair with it's seat detached.  The seat was not exactly pretty, but it was intact and functional, so I grabbed it, along with a bag of coat hangers to get my clothes out my suitcase and in the "wardrobe".
I took it back to my room and then went and grabbed the frame.  I sat the seat on the chair and looked at it.  It fit!  I planned to go to an op shop the next day and buy some fabric or an old sheet or something to decorate it a bit.  It was about five o'clock by now so all the op shops were closed.
But the more I looked at it, the more I had to fix it absolutely now!  I opened my wallet to see if I could afford KMart.  $20.  It'll have to do, I had a chair to save!
I bought a pink single bed sheet to cover the seat, a hammer and nails to hold all the bits together and on my way out, the craft section caught my eye.  I thought it would be nice if I could tie-in the delicate blue of the chair with the bright pink of the seat somehow.  I bought some pastel coloured paints and some butterfly decals and ended up making this design:
I finally had a little colour in my life!  With no garden and no electric lighting, this is what I needed!
I was never quite able to fix the seat on properly.  It held for a bit, but came loose again.
But it's a very comfortable seat, and if you sit still, you'd never notice.
There is something very special about this chair.
Signed with love and hope,
Cassandra Louise.

10 comments:

  1. Much of true importance in our lives and minds, certainly in our gardens and homes, is recombinant in character. It is a good chair. A grateful chair.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love refinishing furniture, it has been quite some time... but I rescued quite a few old/antique pieces and just fixed them up myself ... I ended up with few really sweet pieces. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's such a lovely feeling, to save a "life". :-) Maybe one day I'll get that seat attached.

      Delete
  3. Well, that's certainly resourceful and the chair looks lovely. I once rescued a bamboo folding chair that was missing just one screw. I still have it, but now it's out in the back yard of the flats for anyone to sit on in the shade on a hot evening. I rescued a tiffany lamp shade too, one panel was loose and another one has a corner broken off the glass, but I glued it together and put it on a base I already had, it's gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, how wonderful! :-D And what a lovely find a tiffany lamp is!

      Delete
  4. First - I just wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blog post last week (about dogs dreaming)

    And - wooo hooo ... chair saving :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for commenting! :-D I loved reading about your lovely dog! ^_^

      Delete
  5. Excellent post, Cassandra. It makes me want to meet such a special chair, and thank it for providing so much support to anyone and everyone who needs it. I know it's just a chair and can't really hear what I'm saying or understand the meaning of my gratitude.

    But that's OK, I understand what I mean, and I'll understand for the both of us.

    This is the first blog post of yours that I've read, but I'm really looking forward to reading more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think everything understands on some level.
      Thank you for stopping by and thanks for commenting! I see that you had a little wander around while you were here. I hope you enjoyed your time and I'll see you when you come back! :-D

      Delete