Sitting Tenants

Our six dining chairs at Cornerstones were free – we got them about twelve years ago, when Sainsbury's were redecorating their Coffee Shop. As I went with Liz and Steph, quite late one evening, to do some shopping, men were throwing them into a skip. Another mother and I said “Hey! don’t you want them?” and they said “No, help yourself!” Admittedly there were a few splits in the seat pads…

…but we didn’t mind too much, but this year, I decided to recover them.

I removed all six pads and brought them back after our holiday. With the aid of my trusty Black And Decker Powershot staple gun, and £6 worth of PVC ‘pebble’ fabric from The Range, I planned on new seats.

I found a piece of scrap card, and using the old fashioned pin/string/pen method of drawing a circle,  I made a cardboard template. I cut out the circles, and stapled them in place over the existing foam and covers.

I was very pleased with the fresh appearance of the new seat pads.

Back at Cornerstones, the chairs remained unseated’ – and would have done so until October Half Term. Except that things went awry with the plans my brother and co were making to move house. Last week their purchase fell though – and in order not to lose their buyer, they had to move out quickly. So we said ‘move into our place’

But I not only had the seats, I also had all the sheets,  brought back for washing after our summer holiday.

We got up at 5am this morning! First I dropped Bob off at the bus station [he was making his annual pilgrimage to Earls Court for PLASA - the Professional Lighting And Sound Association show] then I continued on the A47 to Cornerstones.

I put away the sheets, moved other personal stuff [sewing machine etc] into the loft and then set about the chairs. [see tips below] I took them into the kitchen to clean the frames and refix the pads.

Feel like a meeting, anybody?

Then I went over to help Adrian and Marion sort out their stuff. There were two vans loading up outside their home. One-and-a-half loads to store, and half-a-load to go to Cornerstones.

I was very impressed with Jarretts removals – the guys were friendly, helpful and hardworking. Lizzie, Marion’s neighbour, made us sandwiches for lunch, then I drove back to the bungalow with a car-load of stuff. Christine popped over to collect a package and chat over a cuppa- then one van arrived with boxes of clothes and a fridge and various other things. I left them sorting it all out, and came back here. Arrived at the bus station as Bob came in on the London coach.

So now Adrian, Marion, Lucy, the cat and two puppies are temporarily in residence. There are now three lawnmowers and a large gas bbq in the garage, and a second fridge in the Futility Room, and two extra wardrobes in the bedrooms. Oh, and a huge spider in the bath [I wonder if Marion has noticed him yet?]

If we need to stay over in Norfolk anytime soon, I think we may be asking Christine for B&B at her place. Ours is suddenly quite full!

IMPORTANT TIPS FOR RECOVERING CHAIR SEATS

• remember to number pad and frame underneath with a Sharpie pen – the screwholes are not in the same place on each pad, and you will struggle to match them up if not labelled
• clean the frame thoroughly before replacing the pads- it is disturbing how much crud and gunk accumulates in the crevices!
• treating the circular pad as a compass, staple in this order – North, South, West, East, NW, SE,NE,SW, and then points in between. You get a much more even and smooth finish that way – it is better than going round [N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, ESE etc]as that can cause puckering and an uneven effect.

A&M gave me some stuff they no longer want – I shall post pictures another time. The good news is that their sale is now complete, and it looks like they are already well on the way to purchasing another property.