Sit down and stay a while,

I've always liked chairs. When I was about 12 or so my mom brought home and old red chair from a garage sale and let me put it in my room. I thought it was very cool having this chair in my room. To me, it turned my bedroom into more than just a bedroom. Even back then I loved to re-decorate and I would re-arrange the furniture in my room from time to time. Every time I dragged that red chair from one corner to another the support spindles would pop out and I could use the glue stick in my school bag to fix it. My first DIY project and my first chair.

I have been thinking about chairs a lot lately. I pretty much hate most of the chairs in my house right now. The chair I am sitting in is the worst. It is your standard black pleather swivel desk/task chair on wheels. So ugly. And the desk is pretty awful as well: glass top over a brushed aluminum frame a la Ikea or maybe Office Max. A friend gave them to me before moving out of state. I actually think I might even have asked for them! The rest of the house isn't much better. I would love to replace this desk and chair with a Pottery Barn Porter Desk and either an antique wood desk chair or a beautiful French armchair, depending on what room this set-up ends up in. Right now it's just kind of hanging out in the left half of the two-sided living area in the front of the house. But what I would really like in this space is a fireplace with an awesome mantle for decorating and two beautiful club chairs with an accent table in between. These cozy arm chairs I dream of curling up with a book in front of a fire with are what started this obsessive craiglist treasure hunt. Since I couldn't afford what I really wanted- which is a good thing because if I had the money I would never be able to decide- I hoped to take a cast-off vintage chair (preferably with down cushions, great lines, on little turned legs with castors) and cover up the pea green velvet with a white linen slip-cover or maybe even re-upholster it. So far I haven't had much luck with this project, mainly because all the chairs I like enough on craiglist are still around $200-400 and that's way out of my budget. I may have to settle for a pair of wingback chairs with Queen Anne legs. But for now, I am moving on to other rooms and other chairs.

Rather on focus on finding enough chairs for my dining room or kitchen, I'm focusing on two pairs of chairs right now. The first pair is for my sewing room/office. I'm building a long, narrow work station for both my sewing machine and serger. I thought about just getting a chair on wheels for in there, but I like the idea of having a pair of cute chairs side by side instead. The other pair of chairs is for outside. We don't really have a patio, per se, but there is a paved sort of "row" off the doorwall leading to the backyard. As much as I would love to build a complete outside sitting and dining area, I don't want to put it on the grass so I'm going to settle for two chairs and a small bistro table (most likely). And that's the key word right there: bistro. Or, cafe, rather. As in the original French Cafe chair, the Tolix Marais AC chair.

I just want two of these babies and you can even pick the color. Why can't I just find a couple vintage originals for about $30 on craigslist? I would actually welcome the chipped paint and rusty patina, and seal it with a coat of spray on poly varnish.

Or maybe I would sand them down and cover them with a beautiful glossy red (rustoleaum would come in handy) like the one's Pottery Barn is selling for $199 a pop.

If I had several little outdoor areas that could accomidate a couple little chairs, I would also love a pair of vintage metal mesh chairs like these. I actually have had some luck finding great Mid Century Modern chairs like this online, like these Woodard chairs:

or these knock off Knoll® - Bertoia Diamond Lounge Chairs from Overstock.com

I love the shiney metal. And that brings me back to the pair of chairs for my sewing table. What I really want are a pair of these aluminum chairs that were originally designed for Naval ships:

They may look modern, but they are timeless and classic- they were introduced in 1944, the year my dad was born, and they are made to last 150 years! I love the simple lines and the silver finish. They would work anywhere, with any decor. They could look classy at a desk in Caden's navy blue room in a few years, or cozy in my rustic kitchen. But I really want them in my sewing room now. I would make a couple thin cushions out of four of my favorite Amy butler fabrics and tuck just enjoy them.

Along with The Navy Chair, these colorful Bentwood cafe chair reproductions are widely available online at stores like DWR and The Conran Shop. Of course, they cost a pretty penny, $416 for the metal navy chair and $15-$250 for the Bentwood chair's depending on the color. Why oh why did I feel the need to visit www.conranusa.com to verify the prices for this post? :-) I love chairs!

As much as the gleaming reproductions tempt me with their beautiful colors and updated materials, and the fact that they are readily available for anyone with a credit card and the capability to choose. However, I have neither. My credit card is maxed out and I love them all so I will happily continue dreaming and wishing and hoping I stumble upon someone selling their French Aunt's old balcony chairs.

And that last picture makes me smile because out of all the great chairs I found on Craig's List this morning, those are the two chairs I would have been thrilled to find. And here they are, together. I didn't have any luck with the Tolix, but this ad sparked my interest:

2 Antique Chairs $15

I'm calling first thing in the morning. Maybe I will spray paint them silver metallic.

(sorry this post is so long. I had even more chairs to talk about, but I'm going to save the rest for another post, too be continues. If you linked to my blog after searching for Tolix, and happened to get this far, thank you for reading. Please leave a comment to let me know you stopped by!)