A few weeks ago, I made new fabric panels for the screen in our living room. The new fabric looked good, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the overall look. The frame of the screen was a reddish-brown and the new fabric really seemed to pull-out the red tones in it and I didn’t care for the look. I decided to give it a light sanding and spray paint it heirloom white. Here are the before and after shots of the completed project. Be sure to click the first photo to enlarge it and view the others as a slideshow.
BERORE: Original Screen
New panels really brought the red out in the frame. This photo doesn’t really demonstrate this very well and the dark colour actually appears to look pretty good – not so much when you are up close.
The completed screen.
The completed screen.
We are cooking our turkey today and my dad will be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner this evening. This week I am featuring some of our favourite turkey left-over recipes. Be sure to check it out and see what’s cookin’ at the Roys this week.
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A few years ago, I was looking for an antique vanity for my daughter’s room. I ended up having to drive out of town to pick-up my Kijiji purchase, but when I got there I found out she had a second vanity, a dresser, a little cabinet and bench. She was really wanting to get rid of the stuff and if I remember correctly, I got everything for around $60. I don’t remember the exact amount, but it was cheap. I took all the pieces and sanded, repaired and painted them over time. Here are the original pieces.
Vanity and Bench
Dresser
BEFORE: Dated Little Cabinet
I actually still have one of the vanities (not in above photos) that I have not yet completed. The little cabinet (on the left in the last photo) was not an antique, but was old and built well. I painted it out and used a dollar store stencil to decorate the top. It now sits in our kitchen below our menu board. I love the finished look and the cabinet virtually cost nothing as it was thrown in with my other purchases.
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I wanted to create a “family center” in our kitchen. My idea was to have a location that contained all of our family schedules, memos, chores, etc. I decided to use an idea I found on Pinterest to pull it all together.
Upcycled CD’s
The idea that I originallly found on Pinterest was done with a Christmas theme, but I thought I could use her brilliant idea to make a “family” sign for our family center in our kitchen.
Find old CD’s (or DVD’s) equal to the number of letters you will need.
Drill a hold in the top so that you will be able to hang the finished project.
Use the CD as a tracer and cut-out circles that are equal in size to the CD’s. I used a variety of scrapbooking papers that coordinated well with my kitchen colours.
Carefully adhere the paper to the CD’s (I used my tape gun for this). You could use glue, but make sure you do it carefully so that you don’t get bubbles.
I then gently sanded the edges to get some of the pattern off the paper and then inked the edges to “age it” a bit.
I used my Cricut machine to cut-out letters for my CD’s. (If you have been following my Blog, I am sure you can see that I could not survive without my Cricut).
Punch a whole through the paper and the existing hole that you pre-drilled through the CD. You will want to make sure that you line your letters up so that the hole is at the top (obviously). Adhere your letters.
Finally, put a ribbon or string through each CD.
Wooden Display Rack
To create the rack, my husband used an old piece of wood and a piece of dowelling that we had in the basement. He simply drilled 6 holes in the wood equal in diameter to the dowel and then glued and inserted the cut pieces of dowel into each hole. I painted and then distressed the entire wooden rack to give it more of an aged look.
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I frequent garage sales and places like Value Village or thrift stores in search of “castaways” that I might be able to upcycle. I often have a list in hand and am looking for specific items, but will sometimes come away with unexpected treasures. I am a total sucker for things made of wood and will always search the housewares for items of this nature. Here are some of my past purchases. Wooden items like this often sell for under $5 and can be really beautiful once they are painted.
Spoon Rack
Bowls
Platter
I upcylced a pedestal bowl similar to the one in the photo above and we now use it as a fruit bowl in our kitchen! I simply sanded the surface to scuff it up for proper paint adhesion, and then primed and painted the surface. Spray paint is ideal for getting a smooth and professional finish.
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We recently refinished a beautiful antique oak teacher’s desk for our library. It was so great to finally get that melamine desk and purple wash stand out of our library/office. I didn’t want to spend much time on this project as I didn’t really have a plan or destination for it. What I did know was that although I love purple, it currently has no place in my home.
Antique Wash Stand ~ Before
The camera flash makes this purple wash stand look extra bright. This is a before shot of our library with the stand and old desk.
Hmmm….you can still see the dust from around where my printer used to sit. That’s revealing isn’t it?
One of the things I hated most about this cabinet was the handles. What was I thinking when I stained it purple (about 15 years ago) and chose those handles?
Wash Stand Make-Over
I removed the handles and gave the cabinet a quick sand, just to scuff the surface to ensure proper adhesion of the paint. I also put a bit of wood filler in the holes for the drawer handles as I had planned to replace them. I recently ran out of white paint, so I had to purchase a new can of Benjamin Moore Simply White. (Have I told you white is my favourite colour? Some day, I want to have a white chaise. I think I’ll wait until I know that there won’t be any greasy popcorn hands or spilt cereal on it ~ the last thing I need is to worry about a piece of furniture getting dirty.)
Sanded wash stand
Antique Wash Stand: The Fresh Clean Look
I simply painted the cabinet with two coats of paint and added shelf liner. I decided to give the old handles a try and didn’t find them nearly as offensive with the white on white look.
I am not sure if this is where it will stay, but currently it has been placed in my living room next to the fireplace.
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I got this cute idea off of Pinterest and just had to try it. Basically you take an old lotion or shampoo bottle and upcycle it into a little holder for your cell phone or iPod, so that your counters aren’t cluttered with technology.
Cell Phone Holder
You cut the lotion bottle, so that the back is taller than the front and then cut out a hole for the plug to go through. You then give the surface a rough sand (so the Mod Podge will stick) and then cover the surface in podge. You cut a piece of fabric and apply it snuggly over the podge. Trim off the extra fabric and then apply another layer of Mod Podge. The complete tutorial can be found here.
My Finished Project
Basically, this was a pretty easy project, but in the end a bit of a “fail”. I did not actually try to fit my cell phone inside the container prior to doing all the work. Duh! The bottle I used was not large enough and so I ended up with a “mini” version of the original. I hate it when that happens. Although my phone does fit in (snuggly), it is a bit awkward because of the lack of clearance between the plug and the top of the phone. I would totally do this project again, but be sure to pick a bottle that is large enough and test it before going to too much trouble. We use our holder all the time, but for used batteries that need to be taken to recycling. I have a recycling container at work that I take them to when our little caddy is full. (Unfortunately, we would need to have a caddy on every plug-in the house to accommodate all the phones and iPods ~ one just wouldn’t cut it any more).
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I picked the kids up at camp on Friday night and then spent the weekend with my cousin and her family out at their farm. The kids had a blast at camp and enjoyed the weekend with their cousins, but couldn’t wait to get home and see their dad. It is already 11pm and I have not yet posted for today, so I am trying to post about a previous project. Unfortunately, I don’t have any before shots, but I will try to explain.
Our New, Old Home Needed Paint
We moved into our home in July of 2008. The house was built in 1921 and was really in great condition, but needed some cosmetic work. Most of what we have done has been minor, with the exception of a complete bathroom reno. Our home is a one and a half story with 2 bedrooms on the upper floor and two on the main floor. Although the upstairs bedrooms are the largest, it made the best sense to put the kids upstairs and for us to have our master bedroom on the main floor. The second floor consists of 2 large bedrooms with walk-in closets, a good-sized sitting area at the top of the stairs, and a full bathroom. I believe the square footage on the second floor is around 700 square feet. When we moved in, we removed the 1970’s brown carpet and began to transform the space with paint.
Despite the fact that we live in a heritage home, we knew that there was no hardwood flooring beneath the carpet. We decided to replace the ugly carpet with oriented strand board (particle board). This may sound completely crazy, but we had this in an upstairs of another home (a long story) and absolutely loved the look, value and durability. We bought cheap OSB (oriented strand board) and laid the 4 X 8 sheets on the entire second floor. My husband sanded them down to a beautiful blond colour and put on several coats of urethane. I absolutely love the textured look and we are not concerned about the wear and tear of the kids on the floors. My son even plays floor hockey in the oversized landing area! The entire second story floor was done for under $700 including wood, machine rentals, urethane, etc. and we love the look!
It all turned out well in the end, but we did have some glitches in this project ~ the urethane yellowed and I was so upset that my husband re-sanded the floors (this did not go over well) and to top it off the heat from the sander and saw dust combusted during the night and the result was a minor house fire ~ YIKES!! We were all sleeping on the main floor during the renovations and woke to alarms blaring. Luckily no one was hurt and the damage was minimal, but it was a very stressful event. The moral of the story ~ should you decide to install OSB, be sure to buy a urethane that dries clear without any yellowing or you will be disappointed 🙁
The entire upstairs needed to be repainted and we proceeded to do so, with the exception of the bathroom. (It was not to my liking, but had been recently re-done.) My daughter’s bedroom is the largest at 15′ X 17.5′, with a large walk-in closet in the back corner of the room. She had lots of space, but the dark brown carpet and chocolate-brown walls just had to go!!
Recipe for Revitalization: Just Add Paint
I am so hooked on colour and paint. I truly believe that almost anything can be made to look a whole lot better with a coat of paint. Generally speaking, paint is a simple and inexpensive solution to any out dated space. The inspiration for her room came from a cushion that was purchased a few years prior. I actually designed this room when she was 4 and had a similar design in our previous house. She is now 11 1/2 and still loves it. The greatest part is that some of the items are still from her original nursery, as it was done in the aqua tones that are still a part of her current colour pallet.
The Room Inspiration: A Cushion
The Colour Pallet
The main colour for the room was taken from the flower on the cushion and applied to the walls using a colour wash. The aqua blue walls were painted using a translucent colour wash over white walls. Of course, the chocolate brown walls had to be primed and painted white in order to provide an appropriate base for this technique.
You can see the door to the walk in closet to the left of the antique vanity.
Here is a before shot of the antique vanity and bench.
I picked up two vanities, a dresser, the little table beside the vanity and the bench for around $50 or $60 through Kijiji. I stripped the paint and gave it a fresh coat of white paint. I also put a few coats of urethane on the top to protect it from wear and tear. I kept the original hardware, but gave the handles a coat of silver spray paint to update them. I painted the bench and re-covered the seat to match the upholstered chair in the opposite corner of her room. (I re-upholstered this chair for Eden’s nursery when she was born. Her nursery, was the same aqua colour with apple green.)
I decided to leave the little nook white, but incorporate some striping mid way up the wall. This nook sits to the left of the walk-in closet. It has sheer curtains bordering it. At times, she has put her bed in the nook instead of the craft/homework desk. (These curtains were also in her original baby nursery.)
The dresser on the left was purchased with the vanity.
Here is a before shot of the dresser.
The stripes in the nook were created by applying 1/4″ painter’s tape over the white wall. The green was applied and then the tape removed to reveal the squiggly stripes created by the negative space of the white wall behind the stripe.
The Wall Mural
The throw pillow on Eden’s bed also became the inspiration for this hand painted mural on her bedroom wall. It incorporates all of the colours in her room and ties everything together. It was a huge project, but the style is one that has lasted from little girl to tween and she still loves it, so it was really worth the effort. (This is actually the second time I painted her this mural, as she had the same one in our previous home.) The little cabinet on the right is just a Walmart cheapy that was hand painted and designed to match her room. The chair next to it is the upholstered chair from her baby nursery.
Okay, on my summer camp “to do” list this project looked like this:
put cedar chairs together
Despite the simplicity of those four words on my list, this ended up being a much bigger project and consumed much of my time and energy this week. The result is great, but the reality is this project meant that I did not get to some of the other items on my list.
The Story of the Cedar Chairs
I bought these chairs for my husband about 10 years ago, I am guessing?? We had them at our cottage and although we liked them, they seemed to be like some kind of a wild amusement park for the spiders at the lake. Every single time you went to sit and relax on the deck at the cottage, you would first half to remove the tangle of webs that were in every nook and cranny of the structure. Of course, having done this, I was never quite as relaxed knowing that the likelihood of a spider looming about was in the 90th percentile. Needless to say, they were not used much, but all the same were badly weathered. When we sold our cottage, the pieces sat in a pile in our basement. I had often requested that my husband put them back together, but the chairs are quite large and he felt we had no place to put them. So, this week, I have been on a mission to purge our home of anything and everything that is not being used and those chairs were #1. There was no way I was asking or telling my husband of my plans, so I waited until he went to work and set-out to put the chairs back together ~ without instructions I might add.
The Assembly
First off, it took a lot of brain power for me to figure out the pile of boards. Luckily I had a bit of a visual memory of how these looked when assembled (from about 6 years ago), but no instructions to follow. My first task was to sort the boards. I knew that somewhere in the pile there were the makings of two chairs, so I set to work to make to identical piles and then proceeded to try to visualize how this all might come together. I even found the little bucket of screws and washers without too much effort. I quickly I discovered I needed one of those tools that slips over the nut or screw head and magically tightens them without too much effort ~ a ratchet. The problem is that I soon figured out that I also needed a second one for the other end of the bolt and could only find one. I found some make shift plumbing angle iron type thing and struggled away to get the sides of one chair assembled. This took lots of time and muscle to manage the less than perfect tool selection and falling pieces. I came out with a few scratches and bruises and not too much accomplished. The worst part was that as I looked at the poor old partially assembled chairs I realized they needed a lot more than re-assembling.
Reality Check
I still didn’t know if we were actually going to have a spot to put the chairs or if they would end up on Kijiji, but the truth was they weren’t in good enough condition for either. So what began as a little project soon became a major one. I took the back supports off and began the process of sanding the sides and support boards. Once sanded, I removed all of the dust and proceeded to stain them a dark brown colour. The difference between the redish warn cedar colour and the deep brown was dramatic, to say the least. In order to make them withstand the outdoor conditions, I then had to apply 2 coats of urethane to protect the newly stained pieces. This was very time-consuming and also meant that my garage was no longer available for other projects that might disturb the dust on my turn of the century wooden garage floors ~ can you believe that??
The Finished Look
I am really pleased with the finished look and I must say my husband was impressed as well. He even helped me in the final stages of the project. We have them out on the front porch and I think they will be keepers after all. I was never really crazy about the bright green with the red cedar, but I have to say that the dark wood looks much better with the green fabric seats. The chairs are super comfortable and provide the extra seating I was hoping for on the front porch. The kids will be excited to have some extra seating around the porch swing on the other side of the porch as well!
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Yesterday was a busy day! Got up early and cleaned out the “Lazy Susan”. Yikes! That was long over due. After that I ate breakie, wrote my post, spray painted a magazine rack to give it new life, spray painted some very dated candle holders that I bought at a garage sale for $3, drilled earring holes and spray painted an old spoon rack ($3) to upcycle into a jewelry holder, started to put together some cedar deck chairs that we have not had put together since we moved here in 2008, emptied the dishwasher, washed the covers for the cedar chairs (X2 loads), made supper, went to Mitchell, Manitoba to pick-up what will be my new dining room china cabinet (thank-you Kijiji), and finished my main project…..the grandfather clock upcycle. However, before heading to bed, I did a few hours research to see if I could identify these oriental tiles that were found in our basement rafters. I learned that they are Chinese Mohang Game pieces, so I took pictures and wrote a comprehensive email to a guy that will give us an evaluation via email. Whew! What a long day!
(PS If you click on any image in my posts, it will automatically take you to a slide show with enlarged images.)
Spray painted candle holders
Old Spoon Rack turned Jewelry Holder
Grandfather Clock Upcycle: Before Shots
I don’t usually spent this much on an upcycle project, but when I saw this clock on Kijiji, I just had to get it. I paid $60 for it and had to purchase rope molding ($11), wire mesh ($2) and floral backing ($1). I had all of the other supplies on hand. For me this is an expensive upcycle. I usually only purchase items under $40 unless it is something that I have an actual need for (like my new/old china cabinet for $170). The joy in doing upcycling projects (aside from the dramatic before and after ~ of course) is usually the satisfaction in knowing that an item was literally one step from the garbage before I salvaged it. I love taking something old, worn and outdated and creating something of value that is visually appealing.
BEFORE: Grandfather Clock
Grandfather Clock Upcycle: Get’r Done!
Remove the clock components, decorative top and doors.
Wash cabinet down with TSP and/or lightly sand to ensure the paint will adhere.
Use clean water to rinse off the TSP and let dry.
Using the existing top panel of the back (behind clock face) as a template, cut a new backing from scrap wood. (The original had a circle cut out of the back.)
Measure out the base of the top portion and cut a piece of scrap wood to fit in the bottom over the hole that held the “chains” for the original clock.
Use old pallet wood to make shelves for the bottom portion of the cabinet.
Use old 3/4″ square molding (or something) to make little wood slats to sit along the inside walls of the bottom portion of the clock, for the shelves to sit on. This was a bit tricky as you need to make sure that the wood pieces are installed completely level. I ended up using a 2 X6 scrap piece of wood that was 10″ long as a template/marker for my shelves. I just stood it on end on the bottom of the cabinet, flat against the side of the cabinet. I laid the wood piece on top of the wood (but not so snuggly that I couldn’t remove the 2 X 6 after) and then used the nail gun to attach the slat to the side. I then repeated the process on the other side. I placed the bottom shelf on the slats (level – nice!) and set the 10″ board on top of that shelf and repeated the steps for the next shelf. It worked well.
I primed and painted the rope molding and shelves.
Primed and painted the entire cabinet…inside, outside and back. I later decided to paint the interior of the top blue. I bought a small container at Home Depot for $1 as it was mistint. (I use lots of mistints).
Placed floral backing on the bottom portion of the cupboard. (Love that – who would know I got it from Dollarama!)
Attached the rope molding with wood glue and held it in place with clamps until it was firmly attached.
Re-attach the decorative top portion of the cabinet as well as the door for the top. I was leaving the bottom door off of the final piece.
I did one final coat on the exterior of the cabinet to make the rope molding look like it was part of the original piece.
During dry times, I had spray painted the hinges and handle for the top door and then replaced the glass with wire mesh. It is pretty easy to cut the mesh using tin snips, but make sure you wear heavy work gloves as the ends are sharp.
AFTER: Curio Cabinet
Grandfather Clock Upcycle Project: Status Complete
Last year when the kids were at summer camp, I made my husband show me how to properly use some of his power tools and how to install wall plugs for hanging items. I am so grateful for that bit of knowledge. I am a bit of a “go getter” and I hated having to wait for my husband’s help. He always use to say “Why do your projects always become my projects?” I get that. I would decide to do a project and would end up needing my husband to part of the job. I knew that it was frustrating for him, but even more so for me. I didn’t want to wait for him to do and I hated that I could not do it myself. I still have lots to learn and by no means is my work without error, but I am getting much better at working through a project on my own. For this project, I had to get my husband to help me staple the screen on the back of the door, I just didn’t have the strength to staple in the little space that was available to me. He also helped with a stripped screw. Other than that, I did it all by myself. Yay!
My plan for this clock was to upcycle it and then resell it. Now I am not sure. I know I should not have found my own personal items to put display inside for the photo of the finished product, but it just seemed to need a little something to stage it. Now that my own things are inside, I am not sure whether I am ready to part with this little gem or not. Maybe I will post it, but be firm on my price…that way I can keep it if I don’t get what I want for it.
Well, back to work. I still have lots on my list for the week and time is ticking.
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Yesterday was a great day! I got my post written early and had enough time to finish up a little “upcycling” project that I had on the go. Repurposing and upcycling are two of my deepest passions, but unfortunately those projects can be time-consuming and as a working mom I don’t have the time or energy to do much of it during the school year. When summer arrives, creative projects are always at the top of my list. I absolutely thrive on thinking outside of the box and love trying to create something great out of a piece that might otherwise be deemed trash. In fact, if you were to walk through our home you would find that very few pieces were purchased new, directly from a retail store. Many were bought on Kijiji, at garage sales and few were even picked up from back lane “dumpster diving”. No, I am not too proud to say that…” trash to treasure projects” generally give me the greatest satisfaction. Such is the case with today’s project.
Upcycled End Tables: Step 1 ~ Spray Paint
Okay, first off, I can’t believe I didn’t take a before picture. I always do and in fact, was sure I had until I sat down to write this post. So sorry, but I will try to explain without the visual. I bought two metal end tables off of Kijiji. The lady was advertizing them @ two for $10, but when I got there she confessed that she had broken the glass top of one and in the end reduced the price down to $8 for both tables. (I actually was not going to use the glass for the project so it really didn’t matter to me except for the fact that it had a nice bevelled edge that could have been used for another project.) All in all it was a great purchase. In this photo, you can see the structure of the table (minus the glass top). At this point, I had already sprayed the metal legs with one coat flat black spray paint.
Now imagine the structure above, with speckled paint on it. The original colour was a little bit more greenish grey, but had speckles similar to the cap in the picture.
Upcycled End Tables: Step 2 ~ Sanding
Last summer, my neighbour spotted an old pallet by the BFI bin in the back lane. She helped me drag it home and it has been awaiting repurposing ever since. Finally, a use for it! I got out the belt sander and began to remove the layers of grime and graffiti.
As you can see, the pallet was in pretty rough shape. I decided to sand it while it was still nailed together. It seemed like a good idea, as the boards were stable and easier to sand. Once sanded, I took the circular saw and ran the saw along the edges of the top boards, just inside the rows of nails (and the 2 X 4’s below that were holding the top planks). Removing pallet nails is not an easy task, so I just basically cut off the rows of nails along both ends and down the middle, being careful not to cut into the plank below that they were nailed into. For the purpose of this project, the resulting planks would still be long enough to meet my needs.
Upcycled End Tables: Step 3 ~ Final Cuts of the Table Top Boards
The next thing I did was take my planks and stack them into two piles of 4. I would need 4 planks for each table top and wanted them to be cut to the same size. I placed each pile on the mitre saw, one at a time and made a fresh-cut along one end of the planks to ensure it was nice and straight. I then turned the stack and measured 20 1/2 inches from the fresh-cut end, ensuring that all of the planks were lined up perfectly. I cut them at the 20 1/2 inch mark, and with the 4 planks stacked firmly together, all 4 pieces were cut completely “square” and to the exact same length. I repeated this process with the other stack of 4 boards. Following that, I used the mouse sander to ensure that all of the boards had a smooth finish on the tops and all of the edges. I was not concerned with chips or gouges in the wood because I was going for a worn rustic look anyway.
Upcycled End Tables: Step 4 ~ Building the Frame and Top
I found some old 1 X 2’s int he basement from a previous project and used them to make a frame that would sit around the square top of the metal table. Think picture frame. I measured the outside edge of the black metal top at 17″ per side. The 17″ would become my inside cut on my mitred corners of my frame. I measured out 20″ lengths of 1 X 2’s and then proceeded to cut my boards with a 17″ inside frame length. Basically, my plan was to build a frame around the existing top and then nail my planks to the wooded frame that would sit snuggly along the outside of the square metal table base.
Once the frames were made, I nailed my planks to the tops. I set some really large bolts between each plank to ensure the spaces between the planks would be a consistent size.
You can see from the picture, that the frame was made out of scrap wood as well. This is the under side of the table tops. The frame on the bottom simply sits on top of the metal tables with the metal square on top of the base fitting snuggly inside the frame I built.
Upcycled End Tables: Step 5 ~ Staining the Table Tops
I found an old tin of stain that I have used for many previous projects and generously applied it to the tops, sides and between the planks of the table top. I love the way it looks so old and rustic. We gave it a quick coat of spray urethane and VOILA! Two new end tables for our front porch.
What I Love About Upcycling
In all honesty, it’s a bit of a rush for me. I picked up these tables for $8 ($4 each) and had all of the other materials on hand. The pallet was a dumpster dive treasure and so of course it was free. This project was no more than a few hours work and I would rate it as very easy. The best part is the finished product provides us with little tables that are literally one of a kind. When something turns out well, it gives me a true sense of accomplishment. One of my favourite bloggers is Becky from Beyond the Picket Fence. She is a mom and teacher like me, and best of all she has awesome ideas for DIY and upcycling projects. Check-out her blog and be inspired!
I come from very humble beginnings and learned at a young age how to stretch a dollar. I think that my ability to find a good deal, coupled with my knack for seeing potential in what others might deem trash, makes upcycling both fun and rewarding. Even when a project doesn’t quite go as well as I had hoped, my biggest loss is usually time not money, but because I enjoy the process, I take each failure in stride and try to learn something that can help me become more successful in future projects.
Check-out the mini slide show of the finished project!
My first task was to sort the boards. I knew that somewhere in the pile there were the makings of two chairs, so I set to work to make to identical piles and then proceeded to try to visualize how this all might come together. I even found the little bucket of screws and washers without too much effort. I quickly I discovered I needed one of those tools that slips over the nut or screw head and magically tightens them without too much effort ~ a ratchet. The problem is that I soon figured out that I also needed a second one for the other end of the bolt and could only find one. I found some make shift plumbing angle iron type thing and struggled away to get the sides of one chair assembled. This took lots of time and muscle to manage the less than perfect tool selection and falling pieces. I came out with a few scratches and bruises and not too much accomplished. The worst part was that as I looked at the poor old partially assembled chairs I realized they needed a lot more than re-assembling.
