Broken Trash, Vintage Treasure

 Last month I received the neatest pictures on my facebook homepage. When I saw this project I knew I had to share it with you.

MaryKay Duke is a friend of a friend - a pastor's wife and mother. Her oldest child is off to university this year, and they were looking for a fun project to do together. 
Enjoy,
Rosalyn

Before

Our daughter Elle is getting ready to head off for her first year at George Fox University. She will be studying Elementary Education with an emphasis on Special Education. She is our first to leave the nest-- Ken and I are so very excited for her and at the same time it is so very hard to let her go.

Elle and I were searching the internet trying to find some creative ideas for dorm rooms. We read about replacing the drab dorm desk chair with a vintage chair to give the room a personal touch. Elle really liked that idea so we ventured out in to our little town of Coquille (population 4,275).

Coquille is located in Southwestern Oregon, seventeen miles from the coast. We have lived here coming up on five years. We moved from the big city to this small valley town in the middle of a forest; 75 miles from any major interstate highway and two and a half hours to a decent mall. It is the most beautiful place we have ever lived! The Lord gave us the desire of our hearts when He moved us here. But that is an entirely different story.  (Rosalyn: What?! That's all we get?! I want to hear the rest of THAT story too. Sounds like a second guest-post to me... *smile*)

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After

Our first stop was the Uptown Emporium, a quaint store full of treasures. Proprietor Marci McCune asked us if we were looking for anything in particular…We told her what we were hunting for, and she said, “Come with me!” 

She took us upstairs to the mezzanine (balcony) of her store where she had rows upon rows of chairs. One darling little chair stood out, leg askew, brimming with potential. "Ten dollars," Marcie said.  “Sold!" Elle and I grinned at each other.

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Chair loaded, on we drove to the big city of Coos Bay (population 16,000). Wal-Mart for paint ($12), JoAnn’s for fabric ($5.99), and to Ross, where we found adorable peel & stick decals ($10.99) on their dorm room display. Elle will be using the majority of these on the walls of her dorm room. 

Elated, and just a little exhausted from our day out on the town, we delivered the chair to Dad. He promptly fixed the broken leg, and our project began!

We covered the seat with the vintage looking fabric and painted the chair. Four hours later after the chair was dry, we put it all together and we were so excited with our finished project.

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The best part of this project is that we did it together, had fun and made memories. Now when Elle is away at college sitting in that chair doing school work, hopefully she will feel a little piece of home with her. 

Ken & MaryKay Duke pastor at the Coquille First Assembly of God Church. The Lord moved them from Dayton, Ohio to Coquille, Oregon in 2006.

 ~Thank you, MaryKay and Elle, for the beautiful story and for sharing your beautiful chair project! I've suggested some similar items for those of you who are interested in completing this project yourself. 
If you do makeover your own chair, please send pictures to the rest of us on the facebook page: RosalynPricEnglish.com 


As an aside, you might try signing up for your local FreeCycle group, and see if you can't find a chair and other materials for free.

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