For months (maybe years) Julie and I have been on the lookout for some retro, mid-century patio furniture... You know, the kind your grandmother had on her back porch.
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| This one sold for $1,075 on VintageGlider.com |
Bottom line... it's hard to find this stuff and just too dang expensive to buy when you do.
BUT.........last week something amazing happened as I was driving through an old neighborhood in midtown. I spotted this beauty sitting on the front porch of an old house.
It was conveniently sitting beside two of these! But the ultimate question was... ARE THEY FOR SALE???
The house was for sale so I called the Realtor, got the owners phone number and proceeded to give them a call. They were glad to sell the set which belonged to her late mother for a whopping $125. I tried not to sound too excited on the phone!
The chairs were still sitting on the same porch they were placed on in the mid 1950s.
They had been painted several times so they needed some serious sanding. I used a wire brush and a pressure washer to take off the flaking paint... not a fun job, but a necessary one if you want a smooth painting surface.
My mission: to fully restore these old metal chairs and glider to their original mid century charm.
After getting the rust off, I used a primer to seal and protect the bare metal.
Tip: always paint the bottom first. This way you don't mess up the most visible areas when you paint the other side.
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| The chair on the right has been primed; the chair on the left has not. |
Next on the agenda... choosing the right color. We decided on Rustoleum's "leafy green". Julie loved the color and it's a shade of green that you would have commonly seen in the 50's. We wanted it to look just like it did when it rolled off the assembly line. You can find this paint at the Home Depot.
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| The bottom is now primed and we are starting to add the green paint. |
Julie wanted me to paint the basket weave part white so taping was needed. It was pretty tedious and time consuming but we were so glad we added this little detail.
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We painted the white parts first in Rustoleum "heirloom white". Then after the white paint dried, we added tape and painted on the green.
The last step was clear coating the furniture with a high gloss protective enamel.
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| Here are all the finishes I used. |
Ready for the finished product?
I had the set appraised by Desiree Tate, owner of Antiques at the Loop in Mobile. She appraised the furniture at $1,400. Not a bad return on $125. But we don't plan on selling any time soon. Hopefully now this old furniture can see at least 50 more years.
