Friday, March 31, 2017

Too Many Chairs

I had a conversation at work today with my boss where I eventually ended up uttering the comment: "I need more chairs like I need a hole in the head".

This prompted me to actually go through the house tonight and COUNT all the chairs.

Apparently I have 38 chairs.

38 chairs is TOO MANY CHAIRS. I mean, seriously, that's insane. Now I should mention that I counted everything that could be considered as a chair. What I mean by this is that I included "chairs that can't currently be used", like antique chair frames that need upholstery, and broken chairs that need repairs or refinishing. I also counted junk pieces like the busted-up chair I keep in the garage just out of convenience (it's covered in paint and the original seat was changed to a piece of painted plywood long ago), and other oddballs like my computer chair, a small bench, as well as chairs like the fancy wing chair in the living room, and the deteriorating "papasan chair" in my front porch (which I want to get rid of).

Refurbished wing chair (free - found at the road, but I redid all the legs and changed the shape of the back):


Lovely antique straw and kapok stuffed chair found at the road:


Out of the "incomplete" ones, I was donated 3 chair frames. One is a completely disassembled Victorian chair in a box (it needs repairs, refinishing, gluing together, and complete upholstery), and a pair of beautiful inlaid French or English tub chairs (just the bare frames, these will be GORGEOUS but need a bunch of work, too). I need to take a photo of those chair frames. I also have a fairly plain bare frame with springs from a roadside find that I picked up probably over a decade ago.

Plain bare chair frame (roadside find) with a solid elm frame (an old photo from back at the apartment):
 photo FreeChairFrame01.jpg

Then there are the full set of chairs for the dining room (8 of them), and the chair and bench that go with my walnut bedroom set. Aside from these, all the rest are random finds. Some were bought from yard sales, one came from an auction, and several others were free or nearly free. Pretty much all of them are antique, or at least 60 years old.

Dining room chair set (mahogany):


Gibbard furniture set which has one chair and a matching bench (shown in the next photo):


Old (vintage?) chair with fancy arms and turned legs (yard sale find):


I do have at least a dozen that I want to get rid of. Obviously the majority of these are piled in the basement right now, so they aren't being used in any way.

So yeah, it's not like I'm hoarding chairs or anything (not purposefully anyway!), but I definitely have WAY TOO MANY.

7 comments:

  1. Hello JC. You are such a busy guy. 38 chairs? When does the store open for business?

    I love your room photos. There is a deep satisfaction revealed in all your photos. I recognize the long hours, knowledge and skill you put into your old house restoration. Your level of skill is often beyond words--because you care about results. I draw a distinction between the words "care" and "careful" because you offer both to every project you do. You deserve the very best in return. Bless you.

    Besides all those old glorious chairs, are you still collecting beautiful old clocks? I hope you do an update blog post about your clock collection and include history.

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    1. Hey Mrs. D! How are you? I keep hoping to see more photos of your brother's Victorian house. The windows in there are amazing!

      I really could open a small shop. I have an excess of furniture (mainly the chairs), I want to build a few pieces of furniture (once I get a better saw), and I do have over a dozen clocks I need to fix up and sell. I probably also have art I want to sell.

      Yes I still collect and repair clocks. I haven't really been buying too many. I don't have the money, and I still have dozens to finish repairing (or that need parts). I have a friend visiting this summer who will also be donating a bunch of project clocks.

      I have a clock blog here:
      http://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/

      And there is also the upholstery job for where I work:
      http://lefebvreupholstery.blogspot.ca/

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  2. Love it! I shall count my chairs. I'm fairly certain you have more, but we have quite a few and need to find new forever homes for...or at least out of our homes for.

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    1. I'd be curious to know. It didn't seem like I had that many, but it's surprising how quickly they add up. :D

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  3. Twenty-eight. Only two in the shed. Fourteen in the living room/dining room el. Sigh. No wonder I'm walking sideways through my house. -- Mo

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    1. Haha. I had another friend who counted his chairs and he had 35, so I guess the number isn't THAT crazy.

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    2. And I just realized I had failed to count two more, fold-ups, that I keep for overflow or outdoor seating. 30. Double sigh. -- Mo

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