Louise's Gorgeous Gift

My friend Louise (the one who taught me how to make sea grape jelly) has moved to Georgia, the place of her birth. She still has family there. Her husband passed away a few years ago. They didn't have children and as Louise is getting older (she is about 70 now) she wants to be around family.

Before Louise moved and as she was packing her things she gave me a call one day. She needed The Colonel and I to help her take down the curtain rods in her living, dining and family rooms. When we finished the job and were about to leave she asked if I wanted the old chair she was sitting on. It had been a gift from one of her husband's friends. It was cute, had good lines, but would need to be reupholstered. I said sure.

As you know from my past posts, I'm somewhat addicted to chalk paint. I had more of the paint left that I used on my corner cabinet. I thought that would be a lovely color for the little, old chair. I cleared a spot in the garage and began painting away. Then, before I got too far along and carried away, I stopped to take a couple pictures of the chair for "before" shots.

I brought the chair back into the garage and painted away.

I painted three coats onto the chair. I was really liking the way the color looked. I let the chair dry for about a week or two (I had gotten too busy with other things). I took it to the same place I had taken my coral chair. I was impressed with the job they had done on that chair.

At the upholstery shop, The Colonel and I chose a pretty, stripped material for the little, blue chair. 

It took the shop a bit longer to get the blue chair back to me. I think they had forgotten about it (I had too until I found my order form under a stack of mail last week and gave them a call). I love the way the material and the paint look together. Perfect. Now I have to find the perfect spot in the house for this pretty, blue chair.

I wrote Louise a letter today and I put a "before and after" picture of the chair in the envelope so that she could see what I had done with her generous gift. I bet she won't even recognize it.