So this morning as I was returning from my first walk with the dogs -- my sister had joined us as well today -- I happened to notice a chair at a curbside dump. Except for the ripped brown leather upholstery on its seat pad, this is a lovely, solid-wood-frame chair with nicely turned front legs. The kind of chair they don't make any longer -- it's all particle wood-chip junk nowadays in most stores. And I thought to myself, why would someone throw this out, it would take like 5-minutes to re-upholster?As an aside, I should also mention that one of my favorite uncles is a master upholsterer. Learned the trade as a young man and has his own private shop out back of his house. Being fascinated by all craftsmanship, I spend time chatting with him about his "hobby" every time I visit. I've picked up a few tips here and there. Plus, there's always my uncle as a source, if need be.
Needless to say I took the chair. My sister howled, "You're going to carry that with you now? We can go get the car and come back for it." Notice she wasn't arguing with acquiring the chair -- she saw its potential, too -- just the method. I told her there was no way this chair would stay "in the garbage" for very long, why take the chance. So I nabbed it.
I'm quite certain it was an hysterically funny sight. A woman balancing a chair on her head with one hand while leading a dog and carrying a poop bag in the other at 6 o'clock in the morning. (By the way, I carry things on my head all the time. It's just a question of balance and posture, something no proper Southern woman is ever without. Ask any finishing school teacher.)But we made it home. And I netted a free chair. And a new DIY project. Score! As the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." (It means "man" in the generic every human sense, of course.)
I'll try to take some pictures of the chair and upload them later, if I can find a camera. I don't own one as I have a strong aversion to being photographed and seldom take pictures personally (traits inherited from my mother and her mother before her), though I can and do appreciate photography as an art-form. Perhaps, I can borrow a camera from my sister. The family 'inheritance' seems to have skipped her.... Then again, she was probably adopted. :)
EDIT @ 1:12p: My sister had her camera-phone in her pocket, so I was able to snap a couple of shots of the chair which, as you can see, have been added to the post above. Did I do good? Dumpster Diving FTW! I'll try to remember to post an update once I've finished renovating it.
EDIT @ 12:59p on 22-Sep-10: Found a great (and apt) video and instructions via a ThisOldHouse tweet:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20425752,00.html.
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