Thrilled to the Bone

Remember that little talk we had about “good bones?” I’m sure you do. It was like, yesterday.

It’s something you say, for instance, when your grandma gives you her hand-me-down furniture. “Oh, wow, thanks Grandma! This settee has such … good bones!” Because you don’t want to be rude and hurt her feelings, even though she probably knows it’s a threadbare piece of junk and she’s laughing to herself about foisting it off on you.

Well, Grandma, let’s see who gets the last laugh, shall we?

Oh, what’s that grannie? You didn’t realize how awesome it could look recovered in linen and painted gray? Well TOO BAD SO SAD! Jk grandma I love you. But no, you can’t have it back.

From Jan at Chairished Furnishings.

Another great time to use that phrase is when you’re caught sneaking cast-off furniture from someone else’s dumpster: “Oh hey neighbor! I’m just … uh … rescuing this chair. It has great bones. I couldn’t resist. Don’t call the cops.”

And then after you get out of jail, you recover and paint the chair, and everyone agrees that indeed, the chair DOES have good bones, and the cops and the neighbor apologize and there’s probably a parade in your honor. This is just one possible scenario.

From Better After reader Katrina, a teenage DIYer!

The only thing the old bones needed on this pair of chairs was some way to tone down that orange glow.

The cushions were in great shape, so Shelly at 100 Things 2 Do simply deepened the stain color for a richer, more natural look. It’s like the difference between a fake tan-in-a-can and the real deal. (Like I would know, I’ve been tan exactly 0 days of my life).

The fabric on this chair was also in good shape but a little dated and distracting.

Beck at Beckwith’s Treasures recovered it with a simple teal tweed so the emphasis would be on, you guessed it, dem bones.

Lastly, this pair of chairs from Michelle at 4 Men 1 Lady. If you ever run across a set of these, grab them and don’t let go. Because if you can look past the heavily-tufted velvet cushions …