The Niagara Furniture Bank's Inaugural "Chair Affair" gala finally arrived on Thursday May 30, 2013.
I've been very fortunate to be able to participate in this event. Thank you to Pam Isaac who sent me the Chair Affair information, when they were looking for artists to participate back in January!!

After choosing my vintage, donated chair at the Niagara Furniture Bank, I contacted Lincoln Interiors, who generously offered to reupholster the chair, thus giving me a fresh canvas to work from! You can see more about that in a previous post, here. Many thanks to them, because I could not have done it without them. :)

I was then paired with 97.7 HTZ FM Southern Ontario's Best Rock What a great opportunity. I changed my vision of the chair from my feathery watercolors to some black and red vintage tattoo art!
Rock and Roll, baby! I posted my chair's progress online and had such great feedback. Lotsa tattoo love! People responded well to the chair and it was so great to hear how much people appreciated all of the work I put into it. I couldn't wait for the gala, to see how much we could make for charity.

Check out this video on The Source

Mini-cupcakes and cookies

The most vibrant, funky chair by Elisa Marconi

My Chair! 

Cool looking "Group of Seven" chair with decorative birch arms by Michele Auger. 

I took a couple of pictures of the room when we first arrived, trying to give an idea of how big the place was. 

Beautiful space to have the event. 

My handsome hubby :)

The Tipperary Bog CHEESE!!

Scott Sanders, Chairman of the Board, with LauraLeigh of 105.7 EZ Rock and Cassidy Fenton

Cassidy Fenton, giving her speech with LauraLeigh looking on

Giving out awards to some of the amazing people who made the event happen

The fabulous Kathy McBride and her awesome chair : First up for the Live Auction

Stepping up to the mic, with auctioneer Warren Rose. The final bid for my chair was $600

Getting a pic with LauraLeigh, representing 105.7EZRock, NewsTalk610 CKTB and my partner station 97.7HTZ FM  

I had to get a photo with the wonderful people who placed the highest bid on my chair. 

So happy to be a part of this great event! 

We were really excited to sit in the giant chair that was made by students from Lakeshore Catholic High School in Port Colborne.
Constructed of cedar, donated by The Cedar Shoppe. So awesome! :)

Inked

I left off with a beautifully reupholstered chair. New fabric, fresh canvas. Ready to rock!!

Before and After being generously upholstered by Lincoln Interiors

After speaking with the people over at 97.7 HTZ-FM I decided that I would cover the chair in old school tattoo art. Black and Red. Rock and Roll. A touch of badass. Sounds like the perfect chair to be teamed up with Southern Ontario's Best Rock station.

Speedball ink and a brush. My first time inking a chair...seems to be working! 

Can't wait to see the other chairs at Niagara Furniture Bank's Chair Affair.
I hope my chair brings in lots of  $$$ for the charity at the Gala on Thursday night!
I will let you know what happens! :) 

Chair Affair : Reupholstered and Ready to Rock

So, my last Chair Affair post had me scrubbing orange vinyl and planning to sand the arms and legs.
Much has happened since then!
First of all, I approached Lincoln Interiors and Furniture Gallery in Virgil and they generously offered to reupholster my "Chair Affair" chair so that I would have a "fresh canvas" to work from. Amazing!

A fixture in the community for over 60 years, Lincoln Interiors and Furniture Gallery is well known.
After experiencing the quality of their
customer service, I can understand why they are so revered. 

After meeting some of the wonderful employees, (Deepali, Rose and Peter) fabric was chosen and I was given the arms and legs to take home to sand and prepare. I chose two nice Spring days, a few pieces of sandpaper and got down to it in the back yard. As you can see, the wood was pretty beat up and the original stain and varnish was more than "patina" it was nonexistent in many spots.

We had some old cans of stain from my grandfather and some varnish from the time my hubby refinished the floor. To say that this project is eco-friendly is an understatement!  Niagara Furniture Bank saved this vintage chair from a landfill. The kind people at Lincoln Interiors used remnant fabric to reupholster and bring new life to a beauty of a chair. All for a "Green"Charity that helps so many people! Excellent.

Rose - Behind the scenes at Lincoln Interiors, cutting patterns.

Peter at work.

Just to remind you what the chair looked like before ...

I am so thankful to Lincoln Interiors for generously donating the time, materials and talent of the individuals involved in transforming this chair! 

Big transformation! Peter reveals the Chair Affair Chair.
Ready for my artistic touch.

Before and After and you won't believe what's to come...
I was recently contacted by 97.7 HTZ-FM Southern Ontario's Best Rock to partner up for
The Chair Affair Event. So, this chair is going to have a touch of Rock N Roll! Stay Tuned!

If you would like to help Niagara Furniture Bank reach its goal of raising $45,000, please donate
HERE , even if it's a dollar. Every little bit will help!
You can also purchase tickets for the Chair Affair Gala which will take place at
Hernder Estate Winery, May 30
HERE

Contact Information

• 1534 Hwy 55 Virgil, Ontario, Canada L0S 1T0
• 905-468-3257
• Toll-free: 1-800-215-6057

Niagara Furniture Bank "Chair Affair" Getting it Clean

When I was picking a chair at the Niagara Furniture Bank Warehouse there were a couple things I was trying to keep in mind:

1. It has to fit in the trunk. 

We have a chevy Malibu, so there's not much room. I had to keep it small.

2. Don't go crazy. 

Considering I have never actually refurbished a piece of furniture before, (and I am super busy with three other projects, plus regular life with two crazy boys) I had to keep it manageable. I was on the lookout for something small and simple. Simple lines, some wood, possibly covered in a material I could paint on. 

3. Think of what someone else would want. 

Being creative is all well-and-good, but, in my mind, this piece will be purchased by someone to put in their house. If there's a warehouse of vintage pieces, I am going to look for mid-century modern, because that is hot, hot, hot at the moment. 

So the chair (barely) fit in the trunk. There were definitely some bungee cords used to keep the trunk from flying up. My very patient and loving Hubby did a good job, after he waited in the car with the kids the entire time I was in the Warehouse. Thank goodness for ipods and snacks. 

We got the chair home, and into the mud room. Immediately realized it had a vintage "odor". Began to wonder where this chair has been, and what kind of life it has lived. 

Filthy dirty, my first reaction when we got in the door,  "Nobody sit on this chair!"

Great profile. Kind of falling in love with it.

A little rough around the edges, with a small tear in the top.
What am I going to do about that?

So, first things first. I got out a bucket of hot, soapy water and decided to clean 'er up. 

As you can see, I had a lot of scrubbing ahead of me.
She was pretty grimy.

Well used. I imagined this chair had been delegated to some guy's garage.
That's the only reason I could think it would be as dirty as it was.
It was definitely well used. That means someone loved it!

Put my "scrubbing muscles" to work. 

Here's a pic I took after scrubbing half of the chair. Progress?
Thank goodness the grime came off. 

So, here she is. Much less dirty than before. Next step, sanding the legs and arms?
What do you think?