As you might recall, from my previous post (Chapter 1), I realized that your home (and our home) is your book and the treasures in your home are small chapters! I promised to share more of my "chapters" with you, so here we are....
Chapter II-Trash vs. Treasure
As you all know, the saying goes..."one man's trash is another man's treasure". Well, I believe there's some truth to that, and the saying that should immediately follow it is "the beauty (or shall I say-potential beauty) is in the eye of the beholder".
I wanted a very basic, but solid wood table in an espresso stain. I decided after seeing tons of "almost the right table" (a lot of them in veneer, and some that were VERY close, but way too expensive), that the only remaining option was to have one custom made.
In the meantime, what in the world would I do about the chairs? The furniture maker could make chairs, but I wanted them upholstered, not all wood. I went on another quest, for chairs. If I bought chairs from a retail store and had the table made, how would I get the stain to match? Then, I figured it all out...I was going to mix old and new-old (vintage) chairs and a new table. I narrowed it down to chrome chairs for a classic look and began searching for the perfect chairs-vintage style, classic and still in good enough condition that I can restore them myself. I wanted to keep the cost down, but as you know, once it's called "vintage", the price usually gets increased by about five notches! I searched online for 3 months! I searched Etsy, Ebay and Craigslist...until I found THE ones!
Someone who ate dinner in these chairs from childhood, through adolescence, into adulthood and now couldn't wait to get rid of them-posted six Chrome Vintage Chairs for sale on Ebay for a starting bid of $100! As I scrolled through the pictures, I KNEW they would be absolutely amazing with my new table (or table to be). I HAD TO HAVE THEM! Three days left in the auction and no bids yet.....okay, sounding good.....reading through the description, I stumbled upon the shipping details. The details said "PICK UP ONLY" ....oh noooo....and where were these chairs??? NEW YORK!!! (cue the record skipping noise)
I was NOT about to give up! I contacted the seller to ask if there was ANY way that she would consider shipping them to me (in California) if I bid and happen to win them. She was reluctant at first, but said if I researched the shipping method and found someone to also pack them, then she would do it. So, I researched my heart out and found out that she could ship them via Greyhound from a local station near her and right to a station here in my hometown! The shipping costs weren't too awful either. So, I placed my bid and WON them for only $100! (vision: me dancing around the house) But....then I get a call from the seller...oh no....but it was good news....she called to say that she found two more chairs (8 total) and if I wanted those too, then she would include them....let me think about it....UMMMM YEAH!
Now, we had to plan on designing a larger table to accommodate 8 chairs, instead of six. Thank goodness the dining room was big enough to fit all of it! So, as you can see from the above picture, the chrome was a little pitted and had some scuffs and rust. The upholstery was a 1968 faux suede in a beige color and should have been replaced about 43 years ago! Once the chairs arrived, we removed the seats and backs, bought some really fine grade steel wool (0000), used a LOT of elbow grease and some chrome polish to clean up the chrome. They shined up really nice. We took them to our local upholster and selected a white leather fabric for them. Drum roll please.....
Chapter II-Trash vs. Treasure
As you all know, the saying goes..."one man's trash is another man's treasure". Well, I believe there's some truth to that, and the saying that should immediately follow it is "the beauty (or shall I say-potential beauty) is in the eye of the beholder".
I wanted a very basic, but solid wood table in an espresso stain. I decided after seeing tons of "almost the right table" (a lot of them in veneer, and some that were VERY close, but way too expensive), that the only remaining option was to have one custom made.
In the meantime, what in the world would I do about the chairs? The furniture maker could make chairs, but I wanted them upholstered, not all wood. I went on another quest, for chairs. If I bought chairs from a retail store and had the table made, how would I get the stain to match? Then, I figured it all out...I was going to mix old and new-old (vintage) chairs and a new table. I narrowed it down to chrome chairs for a classic look and began searching for the perfect chairs-vintage style, classic and still in good enough condition that I can restore them myself. I wanted to keep the cost down, but as you know, once it's called "vintage", the price usually gets increased by about five notches! I searched online for 3 months! I searched Etsy, Ebay and Craigslist...until I found THE ones!
Someone who ate dinner in these chairs from childhood, through adolescence, into adulthood and now couldn't wait to get rid of them-posted six Chrome Vintage Chairs for sale on Ebay for a starting bid of $100! As I scrolled through the pictures, I KNEW they would be absolutely amazing with my new table (or table to be). I HAD TO HAVE THEM! Three days left in the auction and no bids yet.....okay, sounding good.....reading through the description, I stumbled upon the shipping details. The details said "PICK UP ONLY" ....oh noooo....and where were these chairs??? NEW YORK!!! (cue the record skipping noise)
I was NOT about to give up! I contacted the seller to ask if there was ANY way that she would consider shipping them to me (in California) if I bid and happen to win them. She was reluctant at first, but said if I researched the shipping method and found someone to also pack them, then she would do it. So, I researched my heart out and found out that she could ship them via Greyhound from a local station near her and right to a station here in my hometown! The shipping costs weren't too awful either. So, I placed my bid and WON them for only $100! (vision: me dancing around the house) But....then I get a call from the seller...oh no....but it was good news....she called to say that she found two more chairs (8 total) and if I wanted those too, then she would include them....let me think about it....UMMMM YEAH!
Now, we had to plan on designing a larger table to accommodate 8 chairs, instead of six. Thank goodness the dining room was big enough to fit all of it! So, as you can see from the above picture, the chrome was a little pitted and had some scuffs and rust. The upholstery was a 1968 faux suede in a beige color and should have been replaced about 43 years ago! Once the chairs arrived, we removed the seats and backs, bought some really fine grade steel wool (0000), used a LOT of elbow grease and some chrome polish to clean up the chrome. They shined up really nice. We took them to our local upholster and selected a white leather fabric for them. Drum roll please.....
Once we had the table made, it was a match made in heaven!
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