Old Chairs into New Bench
See, fun!
I picked these up last year in a junk pile for our city’s spring clean up. Obviously one spindle was missing, and the seats were…well UGLY, and gross.
I have made a promise (to my husband) to clean off the back patio, which is filled with free furniture I have collected. I sold a bunch for dirt cheap and saw these poor little chairs and decided it was time to make them awesome.
I looked under and saw that the seats were stapled on, so I pried them off with a crow bar. The nails were sticking up everywhere so I hammered off the triangles, since they wouldn’t be necessary with what I had planned.
After some thinking, I decided that since I couldn’t replace the missing spindle, I would cut them all out and do something else. I used my Roybi Sawzall and they were off in seconds, love this tool. Then I gathered some scrap boards to make a bench!
Using a 2×3 I drilled pocket holes and clamped it between the two chairs, the pocket holes are in the back.
These chairs have seen a lot of weather and when I drilled the pocket hole on the right the wood started splitting. I put some glue in it and clamped it to dry. Then I added the back board.
The top board was also added with pocket holes. I originally was going to use a piece from an old crib, but I accidentally cut it too short (figures), so I traced the pattern on a scrap 1×4 and used it.
I then cut slats for the back of the chairs/bench and drilled pocket holes. This wood was a left over shelf support board from my Master Closet Makeover. It was getting so hot, that I decided to bring it inside. I glued and screwed them in place, trying to keep the boards level and even. One chair was a little askew so it is not perfect, but hey that is ok! I have long since learned that perfection in projects is almost NEVER, and I am just fine with that.
I filled all the cracks and holes with spackle, and brought it outside to find boards for a seat. A few months back I scored some reclaimed wood from a 1940’s garden/nursery in Boulder, I took as much as I could! I used a couple of 1×6’s from that stash and a 1×3 I had in the garage. Then I cut them to size.
I had a spindle left from the crib I mentioned, I thought it would look cute in the front and help bring the piece together. You might recognize this spindle… I used some on my Repurposed Hook shelf into Book Shelf which happened to be my first contributor posts here. Using my Roybi air strike nailer I nailed it in from the sides of the legs, right where the arrows are pointing.
The boards got some stain and poly. I guess I am still stuck on the dark wood…I did almost use the weathered gray that I used on my Old Deck Wood Laundry Crate, I did a sample of each on the back of the boards, but I liked the dark better. You can see the smaller board stained totally different because it is a different kind of wood. I knew that would happen I like the contrast.
I will be linking to these parties.
