For my birthday this year, I bought myself yet another forlorn piece of used furniture in need of a fix.
Nope. No new shoes or books or music for me! Not this year! Just a beat up rattan love seat found on Kijiji, my favourite online-classified listing. What can I say? It is a perfect fit for the front porch, and will definitely provide a great spot in the shade to read and relax.
However, as is usually the case with the furniture I rescue, this pretty piece was in desperate shape. My plan was to put it on the pile in the basement, with the rest of my pipe dreams, and to tackle it at some point in the future when I could find the time. 
Now I know you have heard this before, but it does bear repeating. My ‘found furniture’ pile in the basement is utterly unruly, and has become a bit of an embarrassment. The fella has always been patient with me, but has recently expressed a distinct preference for purging instead of purchasing more pieces. So imagine my surprise when this time, the fella came forward with the different take on the inevitable wait:
“Why don’t we just get it done?” he inquired quite reasonably. “Why drag it downstairs with the rest of the junk, when we might actually enjoy sitting on it out front?”
Well of course, I agreed. He was offering to help me! Who wouldn’t jump on the opportunity? We promptly hopped in the car and quickly zipped to over to the fabric store, where we happened upon a selection textiles treated for the out-of-doors. They were even on sale!
Together, we chose the colour and then guessed the amount of fabric we would need. With closing time about to arrive, our decisions were probably made too hastily, but we were determined to “get it done”! Once home again, we whipped out our scissors and started sewing, emboldened by our new attitude. Unfortunately, we were forced to stop when the machine broke, but by then we had made plenty of progress. It was clear we would be sitting and sipping wine soon on our newly revived sofa!
Anyway, fast forward just a few short weeks. This girlaboutOtown did get around to fixing the machine and finishing the furniture flip off. Once the doggie damage and upholstery had been dealt with, the real fun began! Sometimes, spending a Saturday spray painting can have smashing results… 
