By Dave and Mary

Vintage Metal Furniture

Lovingly Restored and Transformed

Just about everyone has a memory of vintage metal furniture...

Vintage porch furniture evokes fond memories and feelings.


Debbie's side porch includes some wonderful metal vintage chairs
Photo courtesy of our FB friend, Debbie Perry McMurry
Remember the days of metal chairs and chats on the porch?


Metal Porch Furniture Made New Again

Vintage metal chair

So, we are naturally delighted to come across Amy, who can be found at the Mulberry Street Online Facebook page.


Vintage white metal outdoor patio furniture set

It's hard to fathom the condition that some of the pieces of furniture are in before they are restored. Take a look at the amazing work that Amy and her staff of experts accomplish.

Before

Vintage deco glider - before


After

Vintage deco glider - after


Before

Vintage metal rockers - before


After

Vintage metal rockers - after

Vintage Furniture Video

Watch our fun vintage furniture video!





How Amy Got Started

Amy began searching for vintage metal furniture and second-hand treasures with her mom at a young age. Amy says there is a story behind each piece of furniture that her company lovingly restores. With a background as a graphic designer, she loves restoring old things.


Vintage metal patio furniture with striped cushions


Mulberry Street Online is Born

So with the love and help of her husband and her son, Amy established Mulberry Street, her own company that lovingly restores these long-lost old pieces of vintage lawn furniture.


The Process of Restoring Vintage Porch Furniture

Amy has a great team of dedicated professionals, from sand blasters, welders and repair experts to coaters and upholsterers working on their porch furniture. In some cases, she says, they "perform near miracles to restore it".


Red vintage metal chair

They carefully inspect the furniture to determine what needs to be done - structurally and cosmetically. Arm rests are removed and the whole piece of furniture is primed and coated.

They strip the furniture down to bare metal. Then it is dipped in primer and coated with a high performing weather-resistant finish.


Green vintage metal glider

They update the colors but try to "keep a kinship with the original look". Amy says that each piece of furniture has seen life and upon being restored, is ready for new life. Her goal is to preserve the character of the furniture.


Vintage metal furniture on beautiful porch

The restored furniture might have some dents and imperfections, but it is sturdy, structurally sound and beautiful!

And it has a story.

A story of families spending time on their front porches, grandparents and children engaging in meaningful conversations on the porch glider, and sweet simple times just sharing a glass of iced tea in the backyard.

We hope you enjoyed these fantastic pictures of vintage porch furniture that Amy's company has restored. Some of these pieces have already been sold but her inventory is always changing.


Take a Look at Amy's Back Porch

Amy gave us a glimpse of her spacious back porch where some of her vintage metal restorations happily reside.


Back porch decorating ideas
See more of Amy's porch

We are naturally delighted to come across Amy, who can be found at Mulberry Street Online (Facebook).



Shea's Metal Chairs

Vintage Metal Furniture Brings Back Childhood Memories

We wanted to share this wonderful story about these vintage metal furniture from one of our contributors, Shea. Just like us, Shea is very fond of metal chairs that were prevalent many years ago.

They are still popular today as "retro chairs".


Shea's story

I've always had a fond spot in my memory for these "old time metal lawn chairs".

They remind me of getting together with assorted aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins on an Alabama or Arkansas lawn on a summer afternoon, tangy smells of pulled pork and BBQ, Kool-Aid (for us kids), barefoot in the grass and chasing fireflies down the slope of the yard as it got dark.


Painted retro chairs

There would be slabs of watermelon waiting for us inside the slam of the kitchen's old wooden screen door, maybe a Cola (a whole bottle!), if we were 'good'. I also remember them as icons of our travels on Route 66: every other motel we stayed at, these brightly-painted metal lawn chairs sat right outside our 'cabin' door.

I remember it raining for days, and when the sun finally came out, we kids would race outdoors to play in the glistening wet yard, not minding that the chairs had 'puddles' in them when we sat down (well, we may have minded THEN, but not now, when I look back...).

In the fall, my Dad would take all of our chairs (about five or six) and put them in a row against the garage,upside down to keep snow and rain from 'ruining the seat'. No one wanted to sit in a chair with a 'rusty' seat, I recall.


Beautiful metal chairs on porch

So I put them on my porch because I LOVE being reminded, daily, of what summers used to be, when I was a child, and what summers ARE to me, now, as I get older.

They're a sweet kiss from my childhood.


The Story Behind the Chairs

I saw an ad in our local Community News where someone was having a 'barn sale' of a lot of old items (they were tearing the barn down to put up a new one). Of the items listed, my eyes latched onto the 'old time metal chairs'.

I phoned them and told them there was no way I could make the drive (100+ miles) to get to their sale the next weekend, as I was just two days out of the hospital from major surgery, but was there some way I could get my hands on those old chairs, after we had decided they were exactly the kind I remembered (aka: motel chairs, bouncy chairs, etc.).

What wonderful, kind people: not only did they personally deliver the chairs to me from the back of their pickup truck, but the gentleman refused to take my money(the $30 each we had agreed upon, plus $40 for local delivery, total $100); he said "consider it our 'get well 'gift!"...

The vintage metal furniture was an ugly, over-painted many-times pastel blue, but for a summer, I left them like that. When my son and I moved to the old Folk Victorian (in a nearby small town), and the house went through a much-needed painting, I went to work on the chairs, scraping and sanding them lovingly by hand.

This took me three weekends, and I was not so 'loving' about it towards the end: my hands were a mess.

I was finally able to repaint both chairs the vivid 'cottage red', with white arms/tubing, to my liking.

When they went to sit on my front porch, with the antique metal planter between them (also painted red) the resulting picture cried for Geraniums, and with that, I was done with the newest 'vignette' of my big old country house...


Metal chairs on porch

And I still think of that wonderful couple, and the barn sale I didn't get to go to (because they brought it to me, in a fashion).

I wonder if they are as happy with their new barn as I am, with my 'old time metal lawn chairs' on my veranda, greeting all guests as they arrive.



Our many thanks to Shea for sharing her photos and awesome story about vintage metal furniture with us.

Mary and Dave, Founders of Front Porch Ideas and More
Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches. You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.

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Mary and Dave, Founders of Front Porch Ideas and More
Hi! We're Mary and Dave, lifelong DIYers, high school sweethearts, and we both love porches. You've come to the right place for thousands of porch ideas.
--- Our Sponsors ---
Use the PCA Visualizer to design your screen door

Shop for Porch Parts at Vintage Woodworks.

The Porch Store

--- End Sponsors ---


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Thank you for being here!


small rocking chair
At no extra cost to you, we earn a commission by referring you to some products on merchant sites. See our disclosure policy.
We, Front Porch Ideas and More, confirm, as stated on our privacy policy, that we do not sell personal information.

All content here is solely for presenting ideas. We recommend consulting with a licensed, experienced contractor before you begin your project.
We make no guarantees of accuracy or completeness of information on our site or any links to other websites contained here.


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