Charitable Chair

this spring i am participating in the wonderful Charitable Chair Event here at Weber State University.

As you can see, it's a pretty legit event. Me and my darling friend Kristin partnered up to get to restoring our antique chair. We got on ksl.com and searched for antique furniture (finding some for sale for $300!!) that was a BIT out of our budget, so we modified our search and found this little keeper:

isn't she a beauty?! we saw so much potential in this little gal... we discovered that she was made between 1900-1920, in the shaker/french provincial style. (shaker because of the rush seating and simple legs, and french provincial because of the curving detail on the ladder-back seat) so we leaned more towards the French when thinking of her name, so we called her Cosette (due to the recent release of the classic Les Miserables (2012) in theaters).
so we divided up the labor to get this girl all shined up and ready for the ball. we started by stripping off all of the old rush seating to stain her. after Kristin sanded and stained it, she handed it off to me and my wonderful husband to figure out how to reapply a new rush seat......... did I mention we couldn't find someone to redo this rush seat? the closest person was in Colorado (we're in Utah).... so we were in a bit of a pickle...
my husband and i aren't the type of people who just let others get the job done anyhow, so this really did work out perfectly. we were up for the challenge. we took weeks studying off and on about rush weaving a seat properly, and what kind of rush we should use, and how to still love each other under the stress of finishing this little bugger. (yes, we have back problems, and this reflects in our ability to work on a project for a long period of time) but we were each other's cheerleaders and kept a positive attitude!! once the rush arrived from Peerless Rattan (a cute little family located in Michigan who have sustained a business selling rush and cane weaving supplies since 1903) it took us one half of a day, a partial late night (my husband forced me to stop working and go to sleep because i was starting to get crazy project eyes and mumbling to myself), and another half day to finish! Here's the work in process:

isn't she the most beautiful thing you ever saw! 

she will be professionally photographed and auctioned off at the BIG event!

we're so very excited.

we'll keep you updated on how the even goes and how she turns out!

simmons.design