Before and After

I've spent way too long looking for the perfect chairs to go on my front patio. I don't actually sit there often and I always claim that it's because I don't like my chairs. This is what I've had on the patio for the past, oh, four years or so.

I had trouble finding that picture because I avoid the chairs in my pictures.

Now, don't get me wrong I am very grateful for the donation of these chairs. We couldn't afford to buy anything decent at the time and they have been very useful. However, the same things that the kids like about them is what makes them annoying to me.

Pro: The cushions come off easily for storage.

Con: The cushions fall off easily.

Pro: The cushions make excellent forts. (We have eight of them, I think)

Con: The cushions suffocate the grass when left all over the back yard.

Pro: The chairs stack nicely in the garage.

Con: After being climbed on, the chairs are tough to un-stack.

Con: They always appear dry, but it's deceiving. There is no matching "Pro" for this one. No one likes a wet butt.

Con: They're ugly.

Con: Some of the cushions don't fit properly.

Con: They aren't that comfortable.

Con: They're ugly.

Not that we can afford much better than free chairs now, I didn't want to go another summer without relaxing with a book and some coffee on my patio. I went shopping and I like the shape and feel of Adirondack chairs, but we can't afford wooden ones. I thought I was prepared to buy some resin ones, but in the end I couldn't do it. $25 for plastic that probably wouldn't last long. Plastic. I think that's what got me.

I ended up at Goodwill on Tuesday and returned on Wednesday to buy these chairs.

A quick trip to Fabricland revealed that the outdoor fabric I've been eyeing for my dining room chairs was on half price.

Determined that this would not be another chair recovering project that goes on forever and another addition to my fabric stash, I didn't go to bed last night until the first chair looked like this.

The second chair was finished today. I do want to add some outdoor varnish to the wood. but otherwise they are done. 24 hours and about $25 each. I can live with that.

Now I wait for the sun to come out.