New Use for an Old Rocking Chair by Tidy Brown Wren

landscaping, repurposing, furniture, diy

New Use for an Old Rocking Chair

By Tidy Brown Wren, bringing order to your nest on May 01, 2012

I love turning discarded trash into useful items. Take, for example, this decorative wheelbarrow. The metal base was given to me by an older lady when I helped her clean up her backyard (it was hidden behind an old shed). The wooden part is from a broken rocking chair.

This is what the wheelbarrow looked like just a few days ago. It had some worn out exterior grade plywood nailed onto the frame. U.G.L.Y.

After I took off all of the old wood (except the handles), this is what had left.

I figured I would just grab some wood from the barn and cut it down to size to replace the old plywood. But then. . . my son (whom I've trained very well) came home with this.

Can you tell it came from someone's roadside resource pile?

It even came with teeth marks and some kind of weird, shiny spots. After I was done using my (I mean Hub's) tools, it looked like this:

I salvaged the seat, back, and arms. I attached the seat, smaller side up, to the vertical frame and the chair back onto the horizontal frame. Everything is nailed into place, but I know Hubs will want to use screws to make it sturdier. That shows the difference in how we think - I like it to quickly look cute and he likes for it to be sturdy first and cute second.

I'm working on a way to use the arms of the chair as decorative trim, but I think I need Hub's expert advice before I mess with it. Maybe he'll help me out this weekend.

Oops, I forgot to tell you that I painted the rocking chair (after cutting it up) and all of the wooden parts of the wheelbarrow with interior/exterior Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. I left the metal parts alone with all of their glorious rustiness.

I like this little welcoming arrangement that sits in the island in the middle of our gravel driveway. I wonder if my guests will recognize where the parts came from?