Living well on a shoestring

Despite the poor condition and need for complete renovation I immediately accepted the offer of this chair from friends. I loved the style and cane work. The cane was grey, the metal frame was rusted and broken bits of cane strapping needed reattaching. But hey, I loved the shape, I had not seen a cane rocking chair before. It had the potential to once again be a beautiful chair, and it was free! I set to work sanding it back by hand. It took weeks! I blasted off the rust with an angle grinder and used a rust treatment. Afterwards I spray painted the metal frame black. The cane I painted with three coats of a clear varnish, sanding it back between coats. Out on the verge I found a foam mattress and used this for the foam cushions. In an Adelaide Op Shop I found a good quality 1970’s Swedish linen tablecloth. This tablecloth became the fabric for the cushions. Voila! For the price of hours of hard work and secondhand materials I now have a beautiful fully restored cane rocking chair. Incredible!