Honestly, I just wanted a little project with some quick gratification, and this fit the bill. It was well weathered, but in solid shape.
The glass table top was so dirty that I originally thought it might be frosted glass. Mais non...just super caked with several seasons of dirt, but incredibly in perfect condition. Not a single scratch or chip once it was spiffed up.
My husband made a template and cut out 4 plywood cushion bases from some scrap that he had, then I set out for JoAnn Fabrics to buy some foam and pick out fabric (with coupons, of course). The foam and outdoor fabric set me back a walloping $29 and the 3 cans of spray paint from Home Depot, just under $16.
I know that these stripes aren't exactly "vintage-y", but with the scroll-y grapevine design on the table and chair frames, I wanted to step away from that fussy, flowery look that was popular in the 60's.
Since I had planned to spray paint the frames gloss black, I found some outdoor material with just a touch of black in it, and then stapled it around the foam and wood seat.
It's a sweet little set (I kind of feel like I should be setting out an afternoon tea for "the ladies"). And it was a quick, inexpensive project that will fill out a space on the patio of a house I will be staging soon.
What I learned:
1. People's butts must have been much smaller in the 60's. These chairs are a bit on the dainty side.
2. The sentence "I'm going to throw this out unless you want it" is almost completely irresistible to me.
