Aaaaand we're back!

Updated with a much better computer- I think we should get this blog up and running once more. It's been a long summer of flea-markets, tagsales, and buying and selling on craigslist-and there's so many great vintage finds to share!

 Today I want to show you the transformation of a c. 1910 vanity bench. I found this little gem on a soggy clammy flea market Sunday morning a few weeks ago. After a bit of haggling, I talked the vendor (who had wild frizzy black hair) down a little, and the bench was mine. I was just planning a quick re-paint and some new fabric on the seat, until I realized on my drive home that something ( THE BENCH) smelled not so fresh. A bigger project than anticipated, but it did give me an opportunity to strip the bench down to the bare wood. There were four layers of fabric on it, and taking them off one by one was like traveling back through time. Weird flocked floral was outermost, a Hawaiian floral under that, and art deco pastel, and then finally the original fabric- which was once a lovely peacock blue silk, now shattered and faded. And believe it or not, the original padding was straw and raw cotton (the source of the funky smell). I used new quilt batting for the padding and a bright and crisp white and green floral for the seat. The frame was painted antique white- and tada- a beautiful bench! See the after below~