Adirondack Chair Project

We finished! Just barely~ About 3 or 4 months ago we saw a set of adirondack chairs at Costco and loved them. Of course, we saw them assembled. We later decided we were going to buy it so Ian's parents went and picked it up for us. Little did we know... it was just a box of unfinished wood and screws. We thought a little construction would be necessary... but not to the extent it ended up being. For one thing... it was all unfinished white pine. So we had to sand and stain every single little piece - not to mention we had to wait until it was above 10 degrees to even begin staining. The wood sat for ages on our dining room floor.

Over a couple of months we slowly sanded the millions of pieces and two weeks ago we stained them.

This week we started assembling the backs of the chairs. Most of the holes were pre-drilled. I say "most" because, to Ian's horror, most the important holes were not already made. Most specifically the back of the chairs... He had to space out each board evenly, put wedges between each, and then drill the holes without moving the boards. (Things were almost broken, tools were almost thrown). This was done inside because of inclement weather.

After that was done we placed the chairs outside and waited for this weekend. The chairs are connected by a little table so construction had to be completed outside. (How we are going to get this sucker out when we move... I have no idea.)

I only got a few pictures of the table construction because my help was actually needed (again, much to Ian's horror).

And the finished result....! Super comfy... last night we sat out after the sun had gone down... very pretty... really nice to actually use our balcony and the good view.

This is the view from my chair.

We have learned 3 lessons from this project.

1. We are not woodworkers. This will not be a "side" business we decide to open up.

2. Assembling outdoor furniture - everything from sanding to staining to assembly - should not be done in a small apartment.

3. Never buy anything that needs to be put together. Ever.

Adirondack Chair Project: Complete