One downside to life on an island is that everything we toss goes into a landfill that is rising dramatically each year.. (I'm aware there are landfills everywhere, I've just never experienced first hand the repercussions of one.) In January excessive rain overwhelmed the sediment holding pond at the landfill on Oahu and caused used medical supplies and trash to flow through the storm drains out into the ocean. (Gross!)
As consumers (I feel) we rarely think about the consequences of discarding old furniture, trash and mattresses. Living on Oahu has opened my eyes to how wasteful we can be, and we've increased our efforts to minimize what we send to the trash. We are only two people, but it's amazing how much of what we purchase from groceries and packaging can be recycled rather than stuffed in the trash.
For a few weeks after the landfill overflowed there was no bulky item curbside service to the dump. As the discarded belongings began to fill the streets Mr. Whitaker and I were overwhelmed at how much furniture we found. We decided to see what/if anything could be saved from the piles and diverted from the landfill. Originally we thought we might fix or repair some of the non upholstered things we found and resell them. We've not started selling anything yet, but we have added some real character to our minimally furnished apartment.
We've got several projects in the works from salvaged furniture, but for now here's a before and after of some chairs we recently redid.
These particular chairs didn't come from the dump piles- we scored them for super cheap off craigslist.
After removing the cushions- which we found out had been previously "reupholstered" or should I say upholstered-over a few times, we sanded down the base of the chairs.
A few coats of white spray paint followed (as if you expected any other color?!) and we were ready for new fabric. Mr. Whitaker's first idea was to make the chairs a modern interpretation of the baroque style. (The motifs on the back of the chairs are reminiscent of the baroque period.) We found some fabric online that we liked but thanks to our super modest budget we had to hold off for a few weeks. Well, weeks turned into months and by the time we were ready to purchase the fabric it was gone... Just our luck.
Well, as I was browsing one of my favorite blogs I came across this fabric:
You can find sweet baby Clara 'swimming' on it in her picture from week 46 if you're a fan of Young House Love (and you should be!)
After I first found the fabric I emailed Sherry to see where she got it. She quickly responded that it came from the clearance Section of Joann's Fabrics. Of course there isn't one on this island so I gave my mom a call and explained our dilemma. Within a few weeks we had a pretty little package with 3 yards of my favorite clearance fabric inside.
Although I instantly loved the pattern, tones and water-color-esque style Mr. Whitaker found it to be too busy.
I wasn't ready to let it go. Some might call that being stubborn, I call it determination. I milled over it for a few weeks and then decided to try dye-ing the fabric to find some middle ground for me and the Mr.
I went with dark grey and the rest is history. I've dyed quite a bit of fabric before- even a dress for a formal banquet, so I was confident with the process and knew the cotton would accept the dye nicely. It turned out great and we both love the (finally) finished chairs.
Be back later this week with another project for the leftover fabric.
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