Drip.

It's been in the 60s and raining off and on since Saturday here in Chicago which is an all too early slap in the face from Mother Nature. Normally we get at least a little reprieve before tumbling into eternal winter, but not so much this year. At least cooler weather is good for two things: excuses to buy new clothes (note to self: buy ridiculously comfortable wool socks this year) and excuses to start laborious and time-intensive projects. I'm doing the latter right now since embarking on a rehab of a Planner Group by Paul McCobb for Winchendon occasional chair that I picked up a couple of weeks ago off of Craigslist. Considering that I just moved, I was really in no position to be shelling out more money on furniture that may or may not make into the permanent collection, but the price was right and when I arrived to pick it up from the seller I was able to talk her down just a little bit more... at least enough to cover supplies to strip off this captains chair's very, VERY brown finish.

Once I got the chair home I couldn't contain my excitement and, naturally, had to do at least a little sharing. Here's the chair looking all vaseline-lens sexy and sultry in it's Instagram preview pic.



And here's the state of things today.

Ugh. I know. Stripping furniture is possibly one of the least fun, most often abandoned DIY projects out there, but we perservere since the outcomes - if you take your time - are so incredibly rewarding. And you may say, "Why not leave well enough alone?" which is a totally valid arguement. That said, there are only a few things in life I'm not willing to put up with (okay, maybe more) and an ugly finish is one of them. I've seen this finish described as "tobacco" which is pretty apropos since it looks like someone spent a better part of the 20th century using this as a smoking chair.

So there's no turning back now ladies and gentlemen. Not that I would since I know some glorious maple lies in wait. But whether or not that maple will ever see the light of day again is still up in the air as this particular chair also has some naturally occuring mineral streaks going on.



Some call them charming, I call them heinous. One way or another, they will be dealt with.

And stay tuned for results! They're bound to make you either clap, cry or curse a little... and really all three would be the appropriate reaction.