Before: Garden hose, After: Modern chair

The first time we saw the one-of-a-kind garden chairs that Denver artist Chase DeForest (chasedeforest.com) makes from everyday hoses and custom-welded frames, we fell in love.

Not being skilled in the welding department, though, we decided to fashion our own adaptation. We began with a chrome frame from a flea market and two hoses, one 100 feet and the other 50. We cut off the hoses’ metal fittings (those bits at the end) and wrapped the longer one carefully around the seat of the frame, working from one end to the other and leaving a 3-inch piece of hose loose at each end. Those we tucked under the wrapped hose and secured with stainless steel zip ties (available at hardware stores). We repeated the process with the shorter hose to make the chair’s back.

As we worked, we kept the hose coiled to make it easier to wrap and used a spring clamp to hold already-wrapped sections.

Keep in mind that garden hoses can be stiff! We found that polyurethane ones worked best.