40. Kitchen chair side project.....

Last year I bought some old French school chairs from Ebay to use as dining chairs in our kitchen.  They were in a slightly worse state of repair than I originally thought so I decided to restore them as a little winter project.

They're all done now, so I thought I'd post a few pictures of the restoration:

Chairs as they arrived...

Not in great condition...

Original rubber feet seen better days

Plywood seats and backs removed

Some original graffiti.  Je t'aime.  Romantic lot the French.

Several of the chairs had cracked joints

Damaged joints rebrazed.  Didn't have an oxyacetylene torch available but MAPP gas in my propane torch seemed to do the trick.

Seat frames back from glass bead blasting

Frames powder-coated to match our kitchen

New angled plastic feet.  Many hours of Googling to find them...

Plywood seats and backs cleaned using white spirit and extra fine steel wool

Seats and backs simply waxed to keep the original patina (and French graffiti)

Seats rivetted back in place

The finished chairs.  Taken a lot of work but worth the result.

39. Staircase

Temporary stairs have served their purpose

New oak staircase under construction

Nearly there....

Completed staircase

Some new flooring finishes things off...

38. Doors and Windows

Existing windows showing their age (about 80 years in fact)

Existing hinges past their best

Repairs to frames

Period reclaimed ironmongery from another property (ready to be rechromed)

Reclaimed latches fitted

Reclaimed handles fitted

New hinges fitted

Window and leadwork repaired

Existing front door looking a little tired (!)

New bespoke timber front door and frame.
Handmade leaded windows to match bay window patterns.

37. Bathroom

36. Downstairs WC

35. Bedrooms

New bedroom flooring

New wardrobes and flooring

Wardrobes in children's rooms

Shelving in children's rooms

Emily's bunk bed

Thomas' bunk bed

Children's desk

Bunk bed steps/drawers

34. An Update

I gave up on my blog a few years ago, but as we're currently in Coronavirus lockdown and I've got a bit of time on my hands, I thought I'd post an update.  The house is (nearly) all finished now, and we've been happily living here for a few years!