A Tale of Two Lawn Chairs
Once upon a time…oh, the anticipation of those famous opening words! Well, this isn’t exactly an exciting or inspiring story, but it is kind of a fun one. Once upon a time, there were two lawn chairs. I really don’t know how their “lives” began, but I know a lot of their story and I’m thrilled that for now, at least, their story has ended at our house.
My husband’s grandparents, who both lived to be 101, had these lawn chairs on the porch of their farmhouse for as long as Ken can remember.
After Grandma and Grandpa passed away, the chairs were slated to be sold in their farm sale. We didn’t have room for the chairs at our house and none of the rest of the family wanted them. But one of my sisters was fixing up a little under-the-deck patio at her house, so I sent her the photo above, asking if she wanted them. I think she paid $10 each for them.
They were perfect for the little brick patio she and my dad made under the deck, and I was thrilled that they were still in the family, even if it was my side of the family.
After Ken and I moved to Missouri two years ago, my sister and her husband offered the chairs back to us. She had painted them at some point, but after nine years, they were definitely showing their age. I kind of liked the chippy look and we were thrilled to have them for our back patio. They came in handy during the pandemic last spring when we needed to social distance with our daughter’s family over some apple crisp and ice cream.
The chairs had really weathered to the point that they were pretty rough to sit on with all the peeling paint, so we checked into having them sand-blasted and powder-coated. We debated whether to paint them the original colors—the only ones Ken remembers them ever being—but in the end, he preferred painting them both red, and I am just thrilled with how pretty they turned out.
We already had the aqua patio set that echoes the original color of the other chair, and I think it’s fun how the red backside of my “fake” teal door leaning on the screened porch over the patio echoes the red.
It was a little pricey to have old chairs redone. In truth, we probably could have bought brand new chairs for half the price. But new chairs wouldn’t have nearly the sentimental value these do. They should last for many, many years to come and might even get passed down to our kids and grandkids. I think Grandma and Grandpa would be pleased.
What “heirloom” pieces do you have that may not have any monetary value to the world, but are priceless to you?
