The Joy of DIY

For 25 years I've had a dining set of handmade Arts and Crafts chairs, table, dresser, sofa, serving table and two plant stands. The set was made for my grandmother's parents as a wedding present, came to my grandparents as a wedding present and then to Graham and me and are lovely. Oak, carved with apples.  Apples are unusual as the most common motif is pear, and this sort of furniture is two a penny around here, if you want some. My grandmother had had the dining chairs recovered in the 1970s. Fair enough, they were in constant use.... re-covered in brown vinyl.  This has been on them, wearing extremely well, being extremely practical and looking foul, until this summer.  I've been meaning to reupholster them for years, but never got around to doing it/finding suitable material etc.  And then, a pile of material samples came into the Second Hand shop where I've been volunteering.  Well!  strike whilst the iron is hot, so to speak.  All you need is a heavy duty stapler and you can go from dark brown vinyl to this.

Really, it is that simple!