from drab to fab
Sunday, March 13th, 2011When you’re cash poor and carrying two mortgages, it’s hard to turn down free furniture.
Even when it’s this dumpy.
I mean dumpy in its most literal translation. It was from the dump. For free. Eleven years ago, my father took pity on us and dropped off random pieces of furniture from the dump every once and again. The chair served its purpose. It was in heavy rotation in our house until we sprung for some new furniture. And by new, I mean purchased through the classifieds. Yes, kids, it’s true: before craigslist made its way to the ‘burbs, we used to use small ads in the newspaper to buy and sell things. Crazy, right? Once we bought our new used couches and the like, this baby was left in the basement, where it became a victim of my youngest’s tape fetish.
Nothing a little vinegar, scrubbing and sand paper couldn’t solve.
Along with some metallic spray paint, IKEA fabric, and Scotch Guard.
I like to think the 8 stands for “I spent no more than $8 on this chair.”
We’re renovating the house. I’d like to think my thrift with this chair makes up for my excesses with porcelain, glass and marble tile everywhere else. Once my new home office is complete, my figure 8 will be the star of the show. For now, it’s waiting in front of a patched-and-primed wall where a door used to be. That’s ok. The figure 8 already waited 11 years for its transformation. She and I can wait a few more weeks.







