Free, Like a Saint Bernard Puppy

From the curb during a neighborhood yard sale, I rescued four chairs - free.  The owner even helped load them into my truck.  They turned out to be as free as a Saint Bernard pup.

These pics above are the "after" shots.  I must say, the finish is now terrific.  I am happy with the outcome.  But they were a lot of work, more than any chair I have re-done.

They required lots of sanding, which I do by hand.  I went thru a lot of sandpaper!  Then I painted using a semi-gloss paint.  After a few days of curing, I sanded and distressed the finish, following up with Bri Wax in Light Brown.

Painting and finishing the wood frames was the easy part. 

I used a double layer of burlap, which is inexpensive.  However, the tedious process of finishing the backs was time-consuming.  I went through 18 yards of Chinese braid. 

While I like the finished product, I wouldn't attempt these again.  Typically, people don't want to pay very much for chairs at local venues and I feel like I should get $80 to $90 each.  We'll see what happens - they're at Good Company for this weekend's sale. 

Here's the before picture - they were covered in a polyester fabric.  They are solid chairs - Salem House Furniture pieces.