One Room Challenge Week Seven | Plant Throne
We are in the final stretch of the One Room Challenge before the big reveal of this dining room project. With my whole family having the flu, half of week six was spent just trying to get caught up on daily living. Week seven started with Hurricane Nicole slamming the coast and once again closing stores and schools. I did my best during these weeks to get even minor stuff done and that proved challenging, but I pressed into the next project: the plant throne.
If you are not familiar with Hilton Carter by now, then I can't help you with life. He coined the term plant throne in his Wild book series. Basically, your plant throne is an inviting space in your home that surrounds you and your throne with calming elements of nature. I plan to have several of these in my house, but why the dining room? because I love how it feels like a Philly librarian speak easy bar. Dark. Moody. Lush. And the placement of the chair is just beyond the reach of where my boys will automatically go to find me. But first, Carter says, I must start with the chair. So here's what I am thinking.
The Inspo
Bohemian 72 by Gabriella Crespi
Eva Lounge Chair by Giovanni Travasa
The theme here is definitely the pencil reed/rattan. And that two of the three are Italian (I grew up on the coasts of Sardegna so I think it was inevitable that I would be drawn to these). I definitely think rattan has to be done in moderation, so it will be the only thing in the room that has pencil
The Color
The first thing I did was clean this chair with leather conditioning and then Clorox wipes to make sure I got all the stuff off of the surface. Then I am painted the entire body with three coats of Angelus Leather Paint in Black (they were out of Flat Black) and then finished it with Angelus Leather Paint Matte Finisher. A couple of things worth mentioning about this paint if you are thinking about painting leather furniture. First, the paint is thinner than you think so pour slowly. It reminded me of the liquid shoe polish I used to shine my dad's shoes with when I was a kid (willingly). Second, I think the foam brush works the best, just make sure it's wide enough (more than the inch wide one I used). Third, I bushed vertically for the first coat and horizontally for the second coat and then did the opposite of that for the third coat just to make sure there weren't any streaks.
The Build
Next I took this #4 round reed and hot glued it onto the back of the chair (be sure to soak it for at least thirty minutes so that its pliable). Once I got to the other side, I snipped it and came right under it with the next row of reed. Originally, I started off with a nail gun, but it was just too powerful and the nails would go strait through it. Gluing was messy and time consuming, but I wasn't having to pull out tons of nails. A pattern started to emerge on the backside and I kept going till I ran out of 160 feet of this stuff. Unfortunately, Amazon was out of the #4 reed and so I ordered what I thought was slightly bigger reed to finish the job on the sides and it turned out to be smaller and could barely hold the glue.
With the way things are going as far as time management and other obligations, I decided to cut my losses on the pencil reed and will find a fabric that I can staple on the back. I went over the rest of the reed with 100 grit and then 200 to try to remove as much of the excess dried glue as possible, then as soon as stores open up again, I will grab some wood filler and fill in any cracks or holes with wood filler.
The Reveal
I cannot go without saying that I was a little worried that this whole affair was turning into a craft nightmare. The reed gave me a lot of trouble, but I knew if I messed up, the chair was basically ruined. So I pressed on, and while I might have done a few things differently, I do like the aesthetic it casts. This is its current state, but again, hoping to make all the other improvements by end of next week.
So what does this week look like for me before next weeks big reveal? Well, in part, making it through this hurricane for starters (Florida is so extra y'all, I can't stand it anymore). I will also be grabbing plants, and cleaning up any projects that need attention. Finally, I will be styling the whole room and will be doing an IG live with my sister on "How to style a bookcase". More info will become available on my IG feed.
