Let's Talk About Chairs

Look at this cool chair. It's upstairs at the Lovin' Oven, outside the restroom. I wish I could have it reupholstered for them. It just seems so worth it. It looks like a big fleshy flower.

A few years ago we took on a very expensive but worthwhile reupholstry project. Joe had this chair in his life literally for decades. To most, it looked like a true candidate for the curb; it was faded, ripped, dirty, stinky and the bottom had given way, but we could see the potential. It was the coolest looking Art Deco club chair I had ever seen. What we did not see coming was the cost of this restoration project: $1600!! I figured it would cost around 1K, so I wasn't too shocked, but still, we had to ask ourselves if this wasn't foolish. We ultimately went ahead with it, and it is one of those situations where we continue to enjoy it long after we got over the price. Side note: Joe at one time had the set, which included another chair and a big couch that went together. His ex-wife made him get rid of it. Perhaps it is just as well. That couch alone would have bankrupted us. (The wall color in the top picture looks a little BRIGHT on my screen. The lower picture is more accurate. The color is called Mission Wildflower.)

We have another chair in the collection that is deserving of a good going over. It has the Hickory brand name at the bottom, and it is so much heavier than it looks. Very well-made. I'm guessing it was from the 50's. It is not nearly as desperate as the Art Deco chair was. While it is waiting patiently in our living room for it's turn, I'll just call it shabby chic.