A while ago I re-did my dining chairs. They looked pretty good, but they had one huge problem--the seat was upholstered. Now generally that wouldn't be a problem. The seat would be nice and comfy. The problem arises when you have a 3 and 4 year-old eating on them every meal, everyday. The upholstery gets DESTROYED!! It got so bad it was embarrassing for people for me to have people sit on them.
On top of the disgusting seat, I wasn't crazy about the actual design. One night at my friend's house I noticed her chairs. I loved the color and the design, one problem, the chairs were from Crate and Barrel and at $179 a piece they were WAY out of my price range. Here is the chair that is similar to my friends. Gorgeous.
Off to Craigslist I went. It didn't take long and for $10 a piece I had 4 of these chairs.
Now they didn't start off like that. Here is the before.
I absolutely love the lines of these chairs, but I think my favorite part is the history they came with. These babies were the library chairs at CU Boulder for a long time. They have stuff written on the bottom by the maker of the chair and even came with some gum stuck to the bottom. I can just picture the students in the library...takes me back. Some of those scratches were initials. Another cool thing, they have a shelf for books underneath (cool now, not cool when you are sanding them)
To date, this is my number one Craigslist find. I also think it is my number one element in my house. I just love them.
I couldn't be happier with the stain color too. I have tried A LOT of stain colors trying to get something this dark. I went to get sandpaper to sand these guys and I thought I would stroll through the stain aisle "just in case". I came across one dented up can of Zinsser Bulls Eye Wood Stain in Kona on clearance for $2.97. It worked perfect, now I want to redo a couple of my tables with it.
I have to say for about $60 with chairs and materials I couldn't be happier and the best part, they wipe clean after every meal!
Absolutely love your chairs! The stain color is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteLOOOVE them! Great job!
ReplyDeleteLove the lines of those chairs. CU... who would have thought?! You did a nice job on the stain. Nice that they wipe clean. With 3 kids, myself, I can appreciate that. We have covered chairs in the dining room and I'm thinking I need to check out CL.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great holiday and weekend!
Wow, you did a fabulous job with those chairs, and *what* a great deal for $40. I love the shelf underneath, though I totally understand the sanding part.
ReplyDeletecongrats on the good deal and on a job well done! ~Sharon
awesome CL find! I am super impressed. You made them look spectacular too! We got our super huge round dining room table from a seller on CL and couldn't be happier. I know it can be a pain in the rear, but sometimes the payoff is really worth the effort.
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