Childrens Garden Furniture (Restoration Project).

19 comments

A good friend has a lovely childrens garden furniture set. Over the years it has been neglected and in a bad state of repair. I was asked if it was possible (or worth restoring). It is a beautiful set of furniture consisting of two armchairs, a two seater bench and a table. My reply was “nothing as beautiful as this should ever be taken anywhere near a tip”. Whilst some of the wood, nuts and bolts will need replacing and there is a lot of work involved, it is worth trying to restore it, especially as it is of very sentimental value to my friend.

So ….. I offered to have a go with one of the seats, to see how it turned out.

Firstly I stripped the seat down into its component pieces, several of the nuts and bolts had seized so these had to be “drilled out”.

Then came the preparation! I am a great believer, if you get the preparation done correctly, the job will always turn out looking nice.

The rust was cleaned off the metal work using wire brush, wire wool then an electric sander. The wood was sanded down and any old varnish removed with a scraper and/or chisel, then electric sanded.

The metal work then had four coats of metal paint applied (I use metal paint purchased from a well known supermarket beginning with A). I applied one coat of metal primer, two coats black, then a top stippled coat of green to give a “marbled effect”.

The wood was the sanded down and painted with 4 coats of a water based outdoor stain preservative.

Then came the task of putting the jigsaw back together again, which is always the pleasing part after the hard work is done.

I am taking this seat round to my friends today, as it is her birthday …… fingers crossed she likes it. The furniture is that well made, I can just lift the chairs on my own, but it takes two people to lift/move the bench and table.

16 Jul, 2015
18 likes

Comments

Honeysuckle..

What a beautiful set the whole lot must look when together, frightening to think that it could have ended up at the tip! You have made a lovely job of bringing this back to life and I am sure she will be thrilled with the result. Well done, it would be lovely to see it all completed.

16 Jul, 2015

Simbad

Oh wow clever you Alan great job!! I'm sure your friend will be thrilled, very unusual furniture and yes well worth saving :-)

16 Jul, 2015

Lincslass

Alan being a hoarder and also very sentimental especially with family treasures, if I was your friend I would burst into tears at seeing how well you have done restoring this chair, it looks absolutely grand... Give yourself a huge pat on the back, you deserve it...

16 Jul, 2015

Cottagekaren

Oh my word! What a beautiful, beautiful job you've made of that Alan! Your friend is going to be over the moon!!!! Wish you lived near me, I could keep you busy all year around! ;)

16 Jul, 2015

Steragram

What unusual chairs and very desirable indeed. Your friend is lucky indeed to have you on hand - look out for the rest of the set coming your way!

16 Jul, 2015

Cottagekaren

I wish we could all see her face when she gets it!

16 Jul, 2015

Alanb

Thank you all so, so much for your very kind comments.

My friend was truly amazed, surprised and delighted with the end result .... and yes Sue the rest of the set is coming my way. Her OH was more than happy to pay for the remaining pieces to be restored when he saw the quality of the work.

Karen, I would be only too pleased to be of assistance to you, only my OH already keeps me busy ALL year round ...... apart from the odd ocassion when I'm allowed out for the odd round of golf ...... lol

Honeysuckle, I will of course add a photo to this blog, of the complete set, probably round about Christmas time.

16 Jul, 2015

Cottagekaren

:)) look forward to seeing it all completed Alan!

16 Jul, 2015

Gee19

What a brilliant job you've made of that, no wonder your friend was delighted. I will look forward to the next instalment too :)

16 Jul, 2015

Alanb

Thanks Karen and Gee, hopefully another installment later in the year.

16 Jul, 2015

Junna

rare designs and yet the most beautiful chairs I have seen :-))))

19 Jul, 2015

Alanb

Thank you Junna.

19 Jul, 2015

Hywel

Job well done ! :) I agree those items should never be discarded.

20 Jul, 2015

Alanb

Thanks Hywel, it is very satisfying to know that when the whole set is refurbished, future generations will get pleasure from it.

20 Jul, 2015

Hywel

It will probably last many more years. Better than the rubbish they make these days.

21 Jul, 2015

Alanb

Very true ! ?

21 Jul, 2015

Hywel

21 Jul, 2015

Bathgate

Nice work Alan - I knew you'd do a great job after seeing your other projects. The chair is functional and a beautiful pieced of 'folk art.' What type of wood is the chair made of? It looks so sturdy.

22 Jul, 2015

Alanb

Thanks Paul, glad you like it. I was pleased with the results. The metal work, I think is cast iron and weighs an absolute tonne, considering its only a small piece of furniture. The wood I think maybe oak, as it was a very light colour before I stained it. I don't think it would be pine, it wouldn't have survived the many winters outside.

23 Jul, 2015

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