Loving the local farmers!

 

Beautiful colors from the Sunday Farmer’s Market up the street.

Patio quartet.

I found these chairs at a local shop called Clearwater Bazaar. At under $20 each, I couldn’t resist. I have talked to so many people who share my love of chairs. What is it about us that makes us want to bring home every chair that we see sitting by the side of the road, or looking neglected in the corner of a shop?

I decided to leave them rusty-chippy, since the paint wasn’t flaking too much, but since I was planning to lightly sand them and also sand the wooden backs, I thought I should test for lead. I have several old things around my house that I have been worried about especially now that I have grandchildren.

The nice people at Orchard Supply directed me right to the lead testing kits. Two testers per pack and not that expensive. You can use each tester for more than one item as long as they come up negative, and you do it within two minutes.  I didn’t find lead in the chairs, but a couple of other things that were flaking a bit came up positive. I have put them away for now and have to decide what to do with them, but was glad that I could continue with my chair project.

My original plan was to sand the wood and leave it natural, but decided instead to paint it a similar color as the chair paint and distress it.

 

I’m pretty happy with how they turned out. They look so inviting all in a row on my patio.