Office romance...

Last year, a friend and I embarked on a rescue mission when, in the midst of a torrential downpour, we spotted a skip being loaded up with office junk. It was all from the Co-op, so very ethical I'm sure. I needed an extra chair for the studio/office, so this one was ideal. Bit of a state, but very comfy and perfect for the small space it was going into - as it lets me twirl around quite efficiently to get to the things I need. Or just enjoy the sheer silliness of twirling. I also thought it was a great candidate for re-covering and smartening up. So, yesterday - as if it wasn't hot and bothersome enough - I decided I should get to it.

What a difference! There are loads of blog entries out there to explain how to do it, like this one and this one, so I won't bore you with that. Neither chair in those two blogs was exactly the same as mine, so it's just a case of using the basic idea and adapting as you go along. My chair, for instance, had much more plastic in it, so stapling the fabric onto the back support was very problematical and I needed C's help for that. Even taking the original fabric off was a bit dicey - if you're doing this, take care to keep your supporting hand far enough away from the screwdriver you use to lever off the old staples in case it should slip. Nevertheless, it all went swimmingly well until I managed to strip one of the screws that held the back on...which wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't got ahead of myself and put it into the back rest without first putting it through the upright that holds it onto the rest of the chair...  Luckily C stepped in again and, after much huffing and puffing, accompanied by only a very small lecture about using 'the right tool for the job', managed to extract the screw and somehow re-use it to attach the back to the rest of the seat. Phew. The 'Glory Be!' fabric is from An Angel At My Table - heavily discounted due to a 'flaw', which I've yet to spot! ps No joy at the auction yesterday. Someone else got 'my' lovely mid-20th century black painted plan chest...