Before and After - The Chair

I love when things in your home have stories.  


We have a new chair.  With a great story.


So... my fabulous interior designer friend, Katie, who is also a gifted bargain hunter... calls me up a few months ago and says that I have to go check out a chair and ottoman - at the thrift store.  Uh.  Ok.  I am not a Thrift Store shopper.  Not because I shouldn't be a thrift store shopper kinda girl - but because I have a terrible eye for treasures and it's generally a source of great frustration for me.


But Katie on the other hand.  She has an eye.  And a history.  She didn't steer me wrong with my buffet pieces.  So I trust her.  So I go.  


On the way, I'm thinking - I don't even NEED a new chair/ottoman right now.  There are a lot of things on our to-do list for the house and this isn't included.


I get to the thrift store and find the chair combo she called me about.  Now, if I had happened to go to the Thrift Store on my own (which I wouldn't) I doubt I would have even given this thing a second look.  All faded and dusty.  But now that I'm here and give it a second look, I can see that it seems to be in good shape and I can sort of visualize how it might look recovered.  Sadly, there is a red slash through the price.  This is a sign, I think.  A sign that I didn't need a chair/ottoman to begin with and now it's not even available regardless of it's great price.


A Thrift Store employee approaches and asks if they can help.  I explain that I was interested in the chair but it's clearly already sold - oh well, better luck next time.  "Oh no," she says.  "That slash means it's now 50% off."


Wait!  What?  50% off the already insanely low price?  You must be kidding.  My befuddlement must apparently looked like an invitation to bargain even further because she offered to knock off even more money if I would take the chair right then.


Sold!  For the crazy amount of $80 I bought this perfectly good chair and ottoman.

I then found some super inexpensive fabric and with the help of designer-Katie, found an equally economical lady to reupholster the whole thing.  


Tada!  New chair!  For a fraction (fraction) of the cost I would otherwise have paid for a chair like this.

Do you love it?  We do!  The chair's placement in our home is still currently under debate but I absolutely love the way it turned out.  And it's super comfy - we're all fighting over who gets to sit there - even the cat!  But part of it's awesomeness is that most all of us actually fit in this chair at the same time!


See all that carpet under/behind the chair?  All gone as of today!  Lovely hardwoods are in our future.  More fun before and after's to come!