Fixing up a rattan seat.

Dad found two chairs with broken rattan seats when driving by hard rubbish and they're just exactly what I had in mind for a project... Minus the broken seats of course!

The chairs were in great condition except the rattan was broken on both the seats. We purchased some new rattan from a shop called the cane corner (about $20 for the amount we needed) but this Diy project was definitely challenging for us newbies to the rattan recovering.

Firstly we unscrewed the chair into pieces.

Then we had to clear out the edge (where it had previously been glued) using a router. I don't own one of these but thankfully my neighbours were able to lend us theirs. I love my neighbours!

The rattan needed to be soaked in water for an hour but we ended up leaving it overnight as it didn't seem to have stretched enough.

Then we attached it and ended up with the below look:

Once the chair was all screwed back together I then used a Stanley knife to cut the edges and to make it extra smooth I sanded back the edges.

Now the chair is useable but I still have big plans for them. The rattan on the seat is a different colour to the top piece but I actually plan on painting it all. I was thinking maybe white with wooden seat but am open to suggestions... thoughts ?? They will go with my current dining room table as I really dislike the chunky chairs we have and these already feel better in the space with the two new chairs. For now I'll just enjoy them as they are but expect some more updates soon.
 * sorry about the quality of the last two pics, I'm struggling at the moment to get any time at home with daylight.

Lisa x
Ps I'm linking up with 
Southern Lovely
We Like To Learn As We Go
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Someday Crafts