Vintage Swing Project

If you guys know one thing about me, it's that I love taking things that are worn or broken or ill-fitting and giving them a second life. My obsession with the plant clearance isle is proof of that. 😂 I recently had the bitter-sweet privilege of shopping my dear friend Rachel's yard/moving sale. I nabbed a bunch of great fabric and some vintage home decor (not that much because let's be honest... I'm bursting at the seams a little), but my excitement came from this old, beat-up rattan hanging chair. She told me she got it off the side of the road in a sea-salty town, and the wood really showed it. The seems were coming apart and the chair was brittle. Here's what I did to bring her back to life:


The two main things I used to revitalize the chair were this SunShield Wood Conditioner and leather cord. The SunShield was to condition the wood and hopefully allow some moisture to soak back in, and I used the leather cord to tie the unraveled spots on the chair back together.


This is the state of the wood as I was applying the conditioner. You can see the color difference in the photo, but what you can't see is how this dried out chair just sopped it up. It was pretty impressive.

Oh, and I did hang the chair before I started applying the conditioner because bending over for hours to condition the chair just seemed like a project I would never finish. These swing ties are hanging three of our swings now and holding up nicely.


After I used a cloth to rub all of the conditioner into the wood (don't be fooled by tidy DIY posts, this took two days), I used the leather to tie the joints back together. Honestly, it ended up creating a pretty cool look with the rattan and the leather. I'm into it.

I did, however, give myself many, many blisters the day before our band played 3 shows in two days. "And here we have ol' blister-fingers on the piano. Clap for her." 😳


My goal for this patio when we finally get it finished is a cozy boho vibe. We have ivy hanging down from the trees overhead, so this cushion cover I found on Amazon was pretty perfect.


One day when our fence is up (hopefully by the end of the summer) and we can put more furniture out, it will be so fun to have friends over to chat and relax in this setting. It's so dreamy at night already... I'm a little bit obsessed.

*Notes: there are affiliate links in this post. 
My shirt is from Free People, skirt and shoes are vintage, and glasses are Quay