Vintage Furniture

Original Color(s): Varied - Lots of Rust and Old Paint
New Color(s): Varied - Limited Only By Imagination

Paint Type: Epoxy or Acrylic Enamel

Completed: Various Dates - Continues To Be An Ongoing Project

Every once in a while, you run into one of those situations that seems to be choreographed to a script.

Vintage yard and office furniture of any type is today's hot decorating item.
We had seen a great vintage glider with matching chairs for sale that was just begging for restoration.
We had already considered buying it for ourselves to test our restoration skills; thinking we could resell it
if all went well.
But before we could do so, we received a telephone call from a potential customer inquiring about whether
we could paint a couple of pieces of vintage lawn furniture she had purchased on a recent trip. Seems she
had just recently added a Florida room to her home and was furnishing it with vintage furniture.
It all seemed so obvious to us! We offered up what we thought was the perfect addition; the glider and chairs, restored and painted in her choice of color(s). We provided digital pictures of the "as found" product. She was interested and informed us that she knew an upholsterer who would make new seat cushions using her chosen fabric and specifications.
So began a very interesting journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

   As the first picture reflects, "as found" condition can often be intimidating. While two of the chairs were in good condition; the
remaining items were severely rusted and had been painted several times by hand. These items could not be successfully refinished
without first removing all the rust and old paint. Chemical stripping might remove the paint but it wouldn't take off the rust or smooth
out the surface. Physical abrasion by hand or power tools would be virtually impossible with all the nooks and crannies present.
Sandblasting seemed to be the only economical and acceptable method to remove the paint and rust in all areas. Plus, sandblasting
had the added benefit of creating a roughed up surface to promote paint adhesion.

All the items were taken to a local sandblaster where they were thoroughly stripped to bare metal. Upon return to our shop, they
were immediately cleaned and given a coat of primer to prevent any new rusting due to handling or humidity. The primer was allowed
to dry for several days before a two-part catalyzed epoxy paint was electrostatically applied.   After several more days of drying time,
the center inserts were masked off and the contrasting white was applied using conventional spray equipment. All colors were
custom matched to the client's specific requirements.

Note that no attempt was made to remove minor dents in the glider or chairs as we felt they lent character in keeping
with the vintage theme. We neither wanted, nor sought, perfection.

As you can see from the pictures below, the finished products are truly spectacular in the client's setting
and a dramatic change from the "as found" condition.

*All pictured cushions, seat backs, etc. were independently designed and fabricated by the customer's upholsterer
and do not represent the work of Preferred Interiors Enterprises.

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