The Amazing New Chair Appearing Act!

Warning! Gushing about to happen, but in all fairness, I have warned you. I don’t know which one I will gush about more, my husband or a chair. Gosh, after writing that it’s pretty obvious that which one I should actually gush about, right?! [Just to be clear, it should be the husband.]

It all began when my wonderful husband hatched the idea that we should make the carport room into a Mego Cave. So it began with this fabric art project, my new super-awesome door/desk, and then with this new layout that was just pleading for a nice comfy reading chair in the corner.

I began scouring local stores and online sites trying to find the perfect chair. Originally I was leaning towards a really nice and trendy patterned upholstered chair. There are many of these around with many dollar price tags. So while I saw some I liked, I wasn’t sold on any of them. These were some that I was considering:

Since this would possibly be an investment piece, I wanted to wait for a ta-da moment. You know those moments when you look at something and you know it is absolutely perfect? So the search continued. Then the other weekend happened. Think you know what’s coming? You don’t. This story has a twist!

It was a lazy, late summer evening, perfect for reading on the back porch and for Eric to be playing around with his car, tweaking this and that. He comes to tell me that he is going to run up the road to take some pictures of his car. This happens frequently, so I said “Have fun!” and went back to reading. Not two minutes later my phone rings. It’s Eric. This is what he says: “Put your shoes on. I’m coming to get you.” Isn’t that probably the best thing you could hear from a guy? I love how spontaneous Eric is. He periodically does this, whether our destination is a pretty sunset or delicious ice cream. He has proven to me that I should just trust these spontaneous moments. So on went the shoes, and I hopped in the car as he pulled in the driveway.

Puzzled and always one to ruin a surprise, I peppered Eric with questions. “How long are we going to be gone? Where are we going? What’s happening?” All I got were, “I’ll have you home in 10 minutes. Technically we are going to see two things.”

Then I saw those two things as we crested a hill. Two vibrant, electric blue arm chairs sitting in someone’s driveway. The best thing about them? The sign that said “Free. You haul.” I squealed, jumped out of the car, and  began testing out the chairs in that person’s lawn. It is quite a feeling to lounge in a chair on a stranger’s front yard, all but spazzing out in excitement over someone’s trash. I am most definitely a believer in someone trash is another’s treasure. How I wish I had a picture of me on that front lawn, but in our haste we do not have pictures of the chair on the lawn or my hysterics over finding a free chair.

So after building you up like this, I am going to try and bring you back down. This chair is not the designer piece that I had been scouring stores trying to find. It is almost like nothing I had in mind. But it was free, it was fun, and it actually fit into the back of Eric’s car (well it actually wedged into the back of the car and we drove oh-so-slowly home). It has some imperfections, like a streak of yellow paint, a little bit of a lumpy cushion (not bad though!), and a few little stains. I think it makes me love it more.

So once the chair got home, I got to work. This was on someone’s lawn, and I have no idea what their hygiene situation is inside. So I used upholstery cleaner, a shop vacuum, and Febreeze to sterilize the little blue lady. Then I used my adrenaline to move the chairs around in the Mego Cave, as Eric was out on his picture adventure.

After looking at the above shot of the chair in the room, something was off to me. So I started playing with the items around it. I didn’t like the lamp so near the window and how the desk hid the crate side table. So I started moving things around.

First it went behind.

Then it went left; and it stayed left! Perfect for proportions and showing all the items in the room.

Awesome right? In a very unexpected and not what I was going for at all way. But I love it. I think the story, adventure, and love behind the chair make me love it even more. The more I look at it in its space, the more I fall in love with it. It fits me like a glove. Perfect for curling up with a good book, a blanket, and some hot cocoa (okay, it was raining and slightly colder that day, so cut me some slack for doing that mid-summer!).

I do understand that it looks slightly outdated, so I have some plans to update it with a cute and modern pillow and thrown. I also think that I have too much blue furniture in the room. So I think I may switch the blue loveseat to the basement (which perfectly coordinates with the wall color) and take the ugly plaid one upstairs and slipcover it (which was already in the plan anyways). I am thinking a nice grey tone would be nice…if I can find one! I have been scouring online stores looking for a gray slipcover for T-cushions. Maybe I will switch to white. Any suggestions?

Before:

Anyways, there ends the chair story! Quite an adventure! Have you ever found something on the side of the road and taken it? Any good finds out there?

Sharing this post here:

• Remodelaholic