THE Chair

When I was a little girl, there were few things that I was afraid of. Playing chase with the big kids? No problem. Riding horses taller than I am now? Bring it on! Being on stage in front of a huge crowd? Ha! Child’s play. However, the one thing that held more power over me than anything else was…a chair. But this wasn’t just any chair. This was THE BLUE CHAIR. The chair that sat in our foyer that I walked by multiple times each day. The chair that had a precious little flower on it. The chair that came all the way up to my toddler thighs. The TIME OUT chair.

Clearly the scariest chair in the history of chairs...

Whenever I misbehaved, my mom would say, “do you need to go sit in the blue chair?” I would immediately apologize and straighten up for fear of sitting in THE BLUE CHAIR. I would cry and cry just thinking of the penance I must pay. No chore or restricted privilege held a candle to the misery that chair could provide. So, naturally, when I had a child I had to have that chair.

The chair itself has seen better days. The striped, light blue fabric on the seat was probably put on long before my birth and while there seems to be a 30-year cycle in fashion, this particular fabric had seen 1 too many cycles and needed to go. Under that fabric was the fabric that had been on there when it belonged to my mom when she was a little girl…or maybe even when her mom was little.

Where to start? I had so many ideas of how to bring the chair into the 21st century. Strip the stain and restain? Or would it look better painted? Something in a nice cool grey, perhaps. Or a distressed white. Yep, that was it. Something to highlight the adorable woodwork and that says “the world’s cutest, little (misbehaved) girl sits here” but with a fabric that could work for any possible future kids that might have a Y chromosome.

But this chair has history. It is not in pristine condition. There are knicks and scratches on nearly every surface. You can see where it has rubbed up against the off-white painted trim of our kitchen door from the 80’s. You can see where my little 2-year-old bum sat and pushed the unattached cushion across the frame, leaving trenches from the staples in the fabric. THAT is patina; patina that I didn’t want to lose. There are stories in that chair that need to be shared with the next generation. The story about sticking my tongue out at the babysitter. The story about saying that bad word I heard on tv, even after I knew it shouldn’t be said. The story about walking a quarter mile to my friend Gerri’s house unbeknownst to my mother (Mom, I swear I told you but you were on the phone and said “ok” not knowing what you agreed to so I thought you really meant it was ok). That chair earned those scratches and who am I to deny it its history.

This chair has had a life of its own. While it might not be the time out chair for my daughter (she prefers to use it to row, row, row her boat) I wanted to keep the history it has. Who knows. She may have a daughter of her own one day; a daughter who, like me, is a ridiculously sentimental sap who loves a good story. I decided not to completely refinish the chair, saving the patina by staining the scratches rather than stripping, sanding, restaining, or painting. I decided to use a stain pen (I like this one), covering the bare wood with a matching dark warm mahogany color but leaving the indentations. You can still feel where my nervous booty would scoot back and forth, scratching the frame. You can see where it toppled over many times when my mom was a child, chipping the back left leg. Those stories will live on but might not be quite as much of an eyesore.

But that fabric. It’s the same fabric that is on a settee that has been in my parents’ bedroom since I was a child. The fabric that came on it when my great grandmother gave it to them around the time they got married. There are so many memories attached to that fabric (have I mentioned that I’m a sentimental sap?) but those are my memories, not my daughter’s. It was time that the chair got updated.

The coordinating settee that once belonged to my great grandmother - currently in guest room purgatory.

The seat is so small that any pattern needed to be fairly small. Most patterns were far too large, didn’t coordinate with ANYTHING in our house, or were way more girly than I could ever agree to. After going to a few different fabric stores, I finally happened upon 2 fabrics that I really liked. One was a white with mustard polka dot print that matches the curtains in her room. And while I am not a very girlie girl, and so far, my daughter doesn’t seem to be either, I somehow chose a second option in a water-color inspired pink (ok, let’s call it coral – it makes me feel better) fish scale pattern that coordinates with her toy bins. I bought half a yard of each and took them home for the final decision. The mustard was adorable and more gender-neutral but there was just something about that pink, er coral, fish scale fabric (similar to this one). A pull here, a staple there, and 10 minutes later - voila! A newly covered and refreshed chair! And what's almost more exciting than having a newly finished chair? A newly finished chair that cost less than $20 and took less than half an hour (plus drying time for the stain) to complete!

Ta-da! Mindblowing, right? ;)

Pretty much a complete 180 from what I had originally envisioned but am I happy with it? Absolutely! And would you believe that I am considering adding more coral in our house? Me neither. Maybe I should go take my temperature…