Grab a seat (part one)

Let me tell you about the many lives of our dining room chairs...unless you have somewhere to go? You probably don't, and that laundry will gladly wait a little bit longer to be rotated. Grab a seat, but choose your pattern wisely.

Our dining room furniture belonged to my grandfather's parents, and still fills me with joy every time I look at it. (Here is a little story I posted ten years ago about one of the adventures the set and I have had together.) The first order of business when the furniture came out of my grandparents' basement and arrived at our first home, almost twenty-five years ago, was to recover the seats with some new fabric. I apparently come from a long line of rule followers who did not remove tags that were supposed to stay put...

...and my great-grandmother documented her recovering of the chairs with a fabric swatch...

...as well as the date she did her work...

I remember how seeing that notation on the bottom of that one chair made me feel as I had already pulled that golden yellow fabric off some of the others. The thought that I was taking apart my great-grandmother's work seemed so wrong. I told my mother how badly I felt, but she assured me that Great-gramma would not have wanted me to have an outdated look. Obviously she took matters into her own, capable hands when the original striped fabric needed some sprucing up. 

To follow the life of these seats (and one of the chairs they belong on)...

...the top right is the original (clearly well worn), then she did the golden yellow. Next up is the bottom left, which I did with the same tiny nails she had used. The next time I went about as dull, but practical as I could with the lower right, and tried my hand with a staple gun. I did my usual "good enough" job.

Years went by before I was looking for my next low budget upgrade. I happened to be at the store when my gaze landed on fabric that made me swoon. I am not usually much for draperies, seeing them more as a necessary evil, but there I was, falling in love! Sure some things were going to have to change, but after painting our living and dining rooms dark blue a few years ago, it was about time to do that color some justice. The drapes came home, and those practical bland cushions made an audible sigh. "Get to the fabric store!" It was hard enough for me to settle on a pattern, so I certainly wasn't going to take extra time to actually figure out what an appropriate amount to purchase might be. Also, there was only x amount left on the bolt, so that was the amount I bought. Let's see, I had six chairs, so...

...perfect?! Obviously my great-gramma was watching over me again with this furniture. She even made sure I didn't make a complete disaster with the stripes.

I think it ended up costing $22 to once again breathe new life into these antiques.

Tune in next time to see what is happening with the chair, that was trying to mind its own business, at the other end of the room. (Quite the cliffhanger, I know.)

Well now hang on a second...I realize that I should include a photo of my great-grandparents. I also know that a lot of us are looking for the next diversion, and since this post only had one link, here is one that will take you to a tale about my other great-grandmother, as well as some photos. Yes, I had the great fortune to spend just over seven years of my life having three great-grandparents, and lost the last of them when I was in college. Incredible. That is all I can say...well there is more I could say, but that would obviously launch us into an entirely new post, and it is nearly my bedtime...ramble o'clock!