Before and After Valet chair

Recently Addy and I went down to my uncle's house to help out after he had surgery. The visit was great and to be honest other then thoroughly cleaning the kitchen, cooking a few meals, and driving him to and from, I really wasn't needed all that much. I did however help him clear out many unwanted items he had planned on putting in a garage sale :-) Have I told you how much I LOVE other people's junk!! Anyway, there was this old odd looking chair that had belonged to my grandfather called a valet chair. Apparently these (according to the internet) are some of the manliest chairs in existence because they were used for businessmen. They would sit and read their newspapers while getting their shoes shined. I decided that in our little family of three females, i.e. me, addy and my little girl dog Cuba, the chair should not necessarily scream manly-ness. I don't know what exactly I was hoping for but the cheap leather and brass look had to go! I successfully located a box with canvas in it (still packing boxes :-(  btw) stained it with tea, stenciled german words on it, sanded the letters to make it look worn and reupholstered the chair seat. I decided to locate some burlap to create a back to the chair, a few buttons the same color of the stitching on the burlap to tie it all together, a few layers of paint on the brass, and voila!  Here are a few before's (you can not tell in the photos but the leather has many cracks from years of wear)

After's

I also am just about to finish another chair I bought for a whopping $5 while I was down visiting my uncle so probably later today I will post more pics! As Addy would say ta-ta!