6.9.08

Victory Is Mine!!

I finally found chairs for our dining room table!!

I got up early this morning to go "yard-sailing" (I know that's not how you say it, I like it that way!) and after three houses I was ready to go home defeated for the third time. My last ditch stop was a little thrift shop on Main St where I asked the owners if they had any furniture. They had none. So I asked if they knew where I could find any chairs.

"Oh, go all the way to the end of this street like you're on your way to Mexico and you'll see a bunch of cars. That's the flea market."

A glimmer of hope! So I drove toward Mexico and low and behold I arrived at my Mecca! Yes, there was a lot of junk and I was the only blonde cracker in the barrel. But there were also antique bed frames, old unbroken french doors, church pews and chairs! It just so happened the guy who had all the chairs was also a cracker like me and I asked him if I could get 6 chairs for $40 bucks, and we had a deal. At an average of under $7 per chair I could not believe my good fortune!

I paid Mr. Carl Smith and we packed all six in the back of my car. I was so excited I drove all the way back to the Home Depot to get paint swatches and look at the wood stains. Check them out!


Two of the chairs are the same style (white cushions).


The Plan of Attack

  1. Clean and assess (remove cushions, toss fabric, check padding)
  2. Sand surfaces, tighten screws, repair if needed
  3. Paint/Stain
  4. Replace padding and recover with new awesome fabric
  5. Put gliders on bottom of all legs
  6. Photograph, use and enjoy
On one of my favorite sites Design*Sponge they feature weekly a "before & after" project just like this one. Only, none have involved so many chairs ... I must be crazy, or more accurately, unemployed.