A week or so ago my neighbor, nnK, came over with a present for me. She’d found a pair of vintage folding chairs that she thought I’d like being given away free on Marketplace .
Yep, they look right up my alley don’t they?
They were pretty grungy though, but what can you expect for ‘free’?
So I gave them a good scrub using the Dawn Powerwash that I shared on Monday. Then I gave them a quick coat of Dixie Belle paint in Drop Cloth. Once dry, I sanded them vigorously because at this point I had decided that I was going to keep these for the summer house and I like my stuff distressed.
Next I dug through my stash of transfers looking for just the right thing for these chairs. Ultimately I pulled out two of the old Prima Marketing transfers that were originally designed by IOD (before they went their separate ways). These were both favorites of mine, so I decided this was the perfect time to use them.
The Seeds transfer on the left is the small version. It also came in a large size (and I’m still hoarding two of those). I did a little search while working on this post and I couldn’t find a single source for the small version of the transfer. Bummer, this was my last one.
The French Pots II transfer on the right can still be found here and there online.
The two chairs were the perfect addition to the summer house.
As was the little vintage green lamp that I purchased at a garage sale recently.
Once again, I snazzed it up with a little section from a transfer.
I don’t actually have electricity out in the summer house, so this lamp is really just for looks. But its green base made it the perfect addition to the space.
I also purchased that vintage fly swatter at a garage sale. There was just something about the old-fashioned simplicity of it that appealed to me.
And since there aren’t any screens on some of the windows out there, it makes sense to have a fly swatter handy.
I’ll continue to keep an eye out for more garage sale finds to add to the summer house.
But in the meantime, it’s coming along nicely I think.
q is for quandie 
I always look forward to your posts to see what magic you’ve created. I love that you share the colors, transfers, etc that you’ve used. Thank you
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Thanks Dawn!
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Hi ! I just bought the small Seed transfer from A Fruitful life. You might look her up. She Carrie’s alot of the 1st generation transfers. Your summer house is so cute. What color is that table? Thank you for sharing all your great finds and how you make them look so much better.
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Thanks so much for the heads up on that source for the transfer Cheryl! The base of the table is painted in Dixie Belle’s Kudzu, and the top is waxed with Fusion’s Lime wax.
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The summer house is so cute with all of your finds and projects. I love it!! Drop cloth is one of my favorite colors. You just can’t go wrong with it! 🙂 I don’t think I’ve ever seen an old flyswatter like that!
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I think the flyswatter was probably some sort of freebie advertising giveaway back in the day. I just love stuff like that!
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I just want to hang out there! Theresa
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It’s not a bad spot to just hang out in 😉
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Love the chairs. You have inspired me to pull out my old extra chairs I keep in the outdoor closet and make them fantastic. Thank you. I love the summer house…I imagine a comfy chair in there for reading…while it rains. lol
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I love Regina’s comment about the “outdoor closet”! We have a four car garage and a tiny house, and the hubby had to get an “outdoor closet” cause there’s no room in the garage for “stuff”. Lol. Mind you, neither of our vehicles fit in there either…anyway, love the chairs, another good save!
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LOL, yeah, who can’t use an outdoor closet 😉
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That’s what I’m thinking too Regina! I need a comfy spot to read out there 🙂
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Loving how it’s turning out! The chairs look great in there! The lamp is perfect. I have to laugh at that flyswatter. My grandpa was telling me he used to bring one along on long road trips to reach back and whap the kids LOL! And they’re metal! He’s onto something 😉
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LOL, well … I guess those things came in handy for more than one use 😉
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Your beautiful work, photography, and writing are always so engaging…such a great blog! Good luck swatting those flies out there….
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Thanks so much Michaela!
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Because of your previous posts with painted chairs, when I found 2 of these at a resale shop for $3 each, I had to buy them. I painted one “in a pickle” and the other one in a turquoise milk paint. The green “in a pickle” one sold Sunday with a cow pillow I made! (No transfers on the chairs). So thanks for showing us more inspiration. I’m going to keep my eye out for more folding chairs.
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That’s awesome, and you used two of my favorite colors! I bet they were gorgeous in those colors 🙂
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Love the chairs and I’m checking into buying some transfers – so that will be a first for me for my furniture re-do’s. I have been painting and selling furniture for years, but never used transfers! I do have a question though regarding your painted furniture you sell (I didn’t see an email anywhere to contact you, plus I don’t think I have seen this addressed in any posts) When you sell something painted and waxed, do you notify anything to the buyer regarding up keep of the piece? Like “no harsh cleaners, will need to re-wax” etc? I would imagine the average buyer doesn’t know much about waxed furniture. Thank you!
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If you look on my ‘available for local sale’ page, my email is listed right at the beginning. Just an FYI, for future reference. As for your question, I don’t go into a lot of detail on future furniture care when I sell a piece. I generally mention what finish is on the piece in case they ever want to touch it up, and sometimes I’ve even been known to hand out a small container of the paint used in case their is a need for future touch ups. But personally I have quite a few pieces of waxed furniture of my own and I rarely re-wax them. In fact, the only piece I can think of that I have re-waxed is my piano and that’s because I beat it up mercilessly. I also have to admit, I’ve never even thought about the ‘no harsh cleaners’ thing because I don’t use cleaners of any kind on my wood furniture. I dust with a microfibre cloth and call it good. It hasn’t really occurred to me that someone might try to use a harsh cleaner on a painted piece of furniture. Hmmmm. I may have to give that some thought. As for the transfers, they can become addictive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you 😉
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I never mentioned my furniture care either when I sold pieces, it just popped into my head recently! I only mention “harsh cleaners” as Heirloom Traditions paint mentions to let their paint cure for 30 days before using any harsh cleaners. I’m with you, a dusting is all I ever do too. I appreciate the info and thanks for the heads up about the email address. I didn’t look there, only the home page. Love all your posts – I learn a lot and if I get too addicted to the transfers, I will sue you for “rehab” money LOL! You are just so creative and hard working – wish I lived in your area, or you in mine!
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Oooo aaaah……..they got a classic Quandie makeover which is the BEST!!! And they fit perfectly into the little summer house……I have a question: do you actually spend time out there? When do you find the time? Or is it that it’s just fun to set up and decorate, kind of like making a doll house cute? Inquiring minds want to know! (-: (-: (-:
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I have tried numerous iterations of the summer house in the hopes of finding a purpose that will truly be useful. Sadly, that has not come to pass. When it was a potting shed, it was too much work to go in there to pot stuff up. So much easier to just do that in the yard and let the dirt fall where it may. When it was a photo cottage, I just couldn’t get the lighting right so I gave up on that too. It was a summer house before as well, with a cute little cane backed sofa that was semi-comfortable, but no, I never really spent time out there. So now it is exactly as you say, a fun place to set up and decorate that is totally underutilized!
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They are absolutely perfection-y for the summer house. Know what I like best about your posts (besides the wonderful projects)? I can just tell while reading each post how much enjoyment and fun you get from what you are doing! What a blessing. I also feel if I met you at a garage sale we would be quite comfortable going to a tea room and having a chicken salad sandwich and some sweet tea. Pure comfort . Hope you have a super day!
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Well, that sounds amazing. Chicken salad and sweet tea would be exactly what I would order! OK, well, I might switch out the tea for a glass of white wine because that tends to go really well with chicken salad 😉
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Okay, I think you should invite Ken over for a glass of wine in your summer house! This is turning out so cute! I love all the green. I have several green pieces, in fact I have a table very much like yours, but it came in old green paint. I was thrilled years ago to find it. I am getting ready to paint some old buckets and add transfers to them this weekend. My first time using a transfer from Prima Marketing or from anywhere. Wish me luck, I am nervous I will mess it up. They are not cheap, but well worth it if I don’t mess up! LOL
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Best of luck with the transfers. I always recommend that people start small. Get the Classic Vintage Labels for example, and try one on something small to get a feel for it. I agree, they are too expensive to mess up. And I did mess up a couple when I first started using them. And actually, I just messed one up the other day, now that I think about it. The plastic sheet folded back on itself and the transfer stuck to itself (that’s hard to describe), and I am still kind of bummed about that. So handle yours with care!
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Love your Summer House Linda! The chairs are perfect for it, and all green things you’ve added are just adorable!
Thank you for the inspiration!
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Thanks Olga!
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The chairs turned out great! They look great with the green table 😊
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Thanks Monica!
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Chairs are perfect. Summer house is cute as a button.
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Thanks Andrea!
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