My Sweet Chair

I stopped in a little consignment furniture store near our home this past fall “just to look”. And happened upon something I could NOT leave behind, no matter that it was near the end of the month, and after this purchase we had to eat beans for the remaining week left so that I could stay within the bounds of my budget. (haha, not really, but almost.)

This little chair and ottoman were hidden back in a corner – both pieces looked to be in wonderful shape except for a noticeable stain on the chair’s off-white slipcover, and the fact that the ottoman was missing its slipcover altogether. But they looked like “good furniture” to me, and the price was really amazing. I managed to wrestle the slipcover off the chair and was rewarded with a little tag that read “Crate and Barrel”. Not that I ever shop for furniture there, but I knew enough to recognize a good deal, as long as I could get that stain out. So, after talking the owner of the store down to $99 for the pair, and consulting a friend over the phone to make sure I wasn’t about to do something incredibly stupid, I paid for the pieces, ferried them home in my minivan and got my hunk of a man to lug them inside for me. (This was taken AFTER the ottoman got a replacement cover – don’t they look cozy??)

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Like all good obsessive-compulsives would, upon arriving home I immediately got on the web to look up these pieces of furniture, since I knew I’d at least need to order a new slipcover for the ottoman part, and this is what I found: I had just purchased The Potomac Chair and The Potomac Ottoman. Which, it turns out, are really incredibly made – these are quality pieces of furniture…..with a pretty high quality price tag to go along with them. The combined cost of this chair and ottoman bought new, made my jaw drop. Wowsers. In fact, once I had done the math, I calculated that what I paid for both of them after tax, was the exact dollar amount (give or take a few cents) one would pay for JUST THE TAX on the purchase of these two pieces new. Snap!

Of course, I did have just a little more money to shell out before I was finished. But, as Providence would have it, Crate and Barrel were right in the middle of their big annual custom upholstery sale: perfect time to go choose a slipcover, and they still carried the fabric I needed. Plus a hundred other fabrics they also tried to sell me. After all, the saleslady reasoned, why not pick up a second cover for the chair and ottoman for the winter months!?! Hmmm?? Well, maybe next year. For now, I am content with my wonderful new spot for cuddling up with a book, or as is usually the case, and CHILD and a book. Nicolas and I often do his reading lessons here with the sun streaming in the window.

Oh, and in case you are wondering…Yes! that stain came out with lots of pleading on my part, and a nice long soak in Oxy-Clean. And even though off-white furniture may seem foolhardy in a house with all these kids, I for one am a pleased customer, and a proponent of the slipcover…I’ve only washed these once since originally getting them back in September, and they really look great.

So here’s to thankfulness for little surprises in the back corners of used furniture stores. Now to get some pictures up on that wall!

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5 Replies to “My Sweet Chair”

  1. I am answering your question you left on my blog about the dress. It is the current issue of Creative Needle. You can pick it up at Barnes and Noble. It is never too late to learn to smock but your daughter doesn’t have much smocking time left!! I am glad my 10 yr old will still wear a smocked dress if it isn’t too “fancy.”
    OH and left the comment on this entry, because I love the chair and I would have eaten beans for a week to buy it!!!

  2. I hope my manhood isn’t in question for being the first guy to comment on this one, but I can vouch for the chair’s comfy-ness and sit-ability.

    Good thing I’m not a furniture reviewer, I just used up all my new words.

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