Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Outdoors Chairs For An *Indoor* Dining Room

And now for a little chair-related riddle: What sucks more than buying eight chairs on craigslist only to realize that they’re really really not working after a year and a half of trying?

A: Buying eight chairs on craigslist only to realize that they’re really really not working after a year and a half of trying while you blog about it to the world at large. Haha. But you know we like to keep it real, so here’s the unfortunate chair lesson that we had to learn through trial and error. And boy were there trials. And errors. But you win some and ya lose some when it comes to making your house a home. So if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again. And again. Haha. The good news is that this whole journey into home-making has a happy ending, so let’s skip to the fun part:

Dining Chairs2

But wait. We’re getting ahead of ourselves. First let’s flash back to the whole struggling-to-make-our-original-eight-craigslist-chairs-work rundown:

  • First we found our $25 craigslist chairs and snatched them up – even though we hated the crazy hotel fabric
  • Then we hunted down some inexpensive slipcovers at World Market (score!) but they were too big (boo!) so we tossed them into the dryer and they shrunk up and fit a lot better (score!).
  • Then we dyed them a nice mocha color in the hopes of letting the dark teal backs of the built-ins do their thing (the original off-white tone clashed with all of the white trim and the built-ins in person).
  • Then we lived with them a bit and learned that they got baggy and messy looking after a week or two of washing them (boo!). Although they snapped back into shape whenever we washed them again, it was more maintenance than we initially thought (boo!).
  • So I actually tried painting one of the chairs a happy apple green using textile medium (epic fail!).
  • Then I tried spray painting them (knowing I could just toss the brown slipcovers back on if it didn’t work out, so I didn’t have much to lose). They were sleeker than the baggy slipcovers thanks to the tighter lines, but the swirled pattern showed through in texture, which was a little less than ideal.

Chair Changes

I actually ended that spray-painting post with this somewhat deflated statement: “As for how we feel, we’re still sort of on the fence. They’re definitely better (muuch better) than the green painted chair debacle. And in person we think they’re marginally better than the baggy slipcovers. But we’ll probably recover or replace them someday down the line. There’s probably a lesson in here somewhere about how $25 craigslist chairs might not always be the answer if they have a crazy pattern and don’t fit typical store-bought slipcovers. Ah well, live and learn.”

In other words I took all of my crazy out on those poor hopeless chairs. Then I gave them the silent treatment for a few months while slowly growing more and more frustrated with them. Eventually we faced the they’re-just-not-working music and said things like this and this to folks who asked about them. And the good news is that the fifth (eighth? I’ve lost count) time is the charm! The key wasn’t saving those chairs and desperately trying to make them work, it was setting them free.

Dining Chairs8

We’re planning to craigslisting the old guys in the hopes that someone who is much better at reupholstery than we are will be interested (they’re a great classic shape, but the fabric has to go) so we’ll keep you guys posted on what brave soul wants to keep giving these chairs a chance at survival.

But now let’s talk about the new chairs! They were actually a really good deal (just $62 a pop) and best of all, we love them just as they are. No more chair-speriments. At least in this room. The larger/cozier chair idea actually hit me one night while thinking about casual and super comfy dining room setups like this one from West Elm and this one from Ballard Designs:

Dining Chairs Ballard

Why do our chairs need to be tiny and why do there need to be eight of them? What if there were six big armchairs around the table? We still have seating for an additional four people at the peninsula (literally three steps to the left of the table) and if our family gatherings eventually get so big that we need to seat more than nine or ten people, we can always set up a kids table in the office since the middle of that room is clear (and that’s just three steps from the dining table in another direction). Plus seating for six in our first house’s dining area worked for the 4.5 years we lived there, so even just the four extra spots at the peninsula will be gravy.

So then I was on the hunt for armchairs, but because I worry about kiddos (& even adults) with a whole bunch of fabric + food, I had this very specific hankering for something wicker or woven. Just to add more texture and not have fabric that I have to worry about staining. The only bummer is that most wicker armchairs are in the $200-300 range a pop (like these $319 options from Ballard Designs, and these $299 ones from Pottery Barn). And then I found these. Four of them for less than the price of one of those others! And angels sang. Wait, that was just Clara in the background doing her Katy Perry impression (in case you’re wondering, if you ask her who her favorite singers are, they’re listed as follows: Katy Perry, The Chipmunks, Adam Levine, and Barney).

Target Chairs

Guess why they were so marked down? They’re actually outdoor chairs! And it’s the end of the season so they were on super clearance. I was really nervous to buy two 4-sets of them sight unseen, but I read that:

  • I could return them to any Target store instead of having to pay to ship them back if they didn’t work
  • By using our Target credit card the shipping was completely free
  • Also by using our Target card we’d score an additional 5% off (wahoo!)

So it felt pretty risk-free. Thank goodness, because at this point I’m suspicious of chairs having unforeseen issues. Haha. Oh and getting eight of them would mean that we’d have two extra chairs we wouldn’t need, so we could craigslist them, hopefully for $62 each since they’d be new/in the box and there are far uglier outdoor chairs on our local CL for $75 (so although we’d have to buy eight, we hopefully won’t lose any money getting those extra two by reselling them, and the per-chair cost will stay at $62). Update: Lots of folks are suggesting that we keep the other two for our deck or patio, which was definitely our first instinct, but we tried them in a few places and felt like we were forcing them, so we’d rather sell them and save up/wait for something that could work better in those outdoor spaces :)

Dining Chairs3

Then we crossed all of our appendages and knocked on wood while waiting for them to come (which makes Burger bark enthusiastically, btw – more on that here). And huzzah! They’re awesome! They make me want to sit cross-legged at the table for hours and draw with Clara (done!). I think they’ll be great for doing homework with her and stuff (they’re kind of cozy like an armchair) and I can’t wait to have a big family dinner with the grandparents and John’s sister so we can all sit and chat for a nice long time in them (who am I kidding, I have a toddler, I’ll be running around while they sit and chat).

Here’s a shot of John relaxing in one. We’re so happy they’re comfy and the right height for the table. Whew.

Dining Chairs12

Another great thing about them being outdoor chairs is that they have these great little durable seat cushions (they’re made to work outside, so they definitely can handle spills and wipe-downs – they actually feel impervious, like most things should bead up – which’ll definitely come in handy).

Dining Chairs9

I’ll keep you posted when it comes to how these babies wear – and how they work for homework, drawing, and hosting bigger dinners with the fam. So far they’ve been awesome for our little crew (they’ve already passed the Play-Doh test). The coolest thing is that because they’re outdoor chairs we can literally bring them outside and spray them down with a hose if need be.

Dining Chairs4

And I sort of love how everyone gets arm rests. It’s like we’re all sitting at the head of the table, which is kind of fitting since a round table doesn’t have a head.

Dining Chairs6

We’re so thankful. Seriously, I thought we’d never crack this chair code and in 2040 we’d still be blogging something like “so we cryogenically froze the chairs and we think that’ll work! Fingers crossed!” Why is it that failing a few times sometimes makes the simplest accomplishments feel monumental? We finally got dining chairs we love almost two years into living here! Somebody strike up the band!

Here’s the view from the kitchen. We love how the slatted wood stools and the woven dining chairs work together without feeling too matchy. They both bring a nice texture and warmth to the rooms without feeling overwhelming (since having so many seats in two adjoining rooms could easily get crazy-competey-looking).

Dining Chairs11

And so ends the epic 2010-2012 Chair Olympics that we hosted at our house. Sure, we lost the first six events (and you have to hand it to us, we really bombed a few of those times) but I might just be found standing on one of these chairs raising my fake gold medal up and happy-crying at the crowd. So it pays to keep at it until you finally get those “this is IT!” butterflies… even if they don’t come easy. In the end, we’re just happy that we didn’t have to spend 1K on a bunch of chairs, which was definitely our fear ever since we got our big ol’ table – but even with the loss that we took on those first ones (including all of our desperate attempts to save them) our total spent is still a few hundred less than that… and will hopefully be even less when we craigslist them. I think we just had to try the parson’s chairs and live with them to learn that we didn’t want to live with them. Haha. It’s like how you have to get that glittery purple eye shadow to learn that no (NO!) it’s not gonna work, and you should probably try something else.

What oops moments have you guys lived through lately? Any other furniture switchouts or upgrades going on? Between our new kitchen stools and these guys we’ve deemed this phase of home-making: “turning a corner.” It seems like we’re finally refining things, working out little nagging issues, and bringing in more texture & natural tones (which we loved in our first house) to mix with the pops of color that we’ve fallen more in love with since moving into our current house. It’s actually pretty normal for us to take a year or two to get our bearings, so needless to say, it’s pretty fun to be making those “that’s it!” tweaks in a few rooms that we use all the time. We knew we’d get there someday. Never mind those five other untouched rooms that we have yet to start. Haha.

Comments

  1. heather s. says

    Love the upgrade. I was never a fan of the spraypainted/sometimes covered chairs – these look so comfy and really fill up the room. I’ve also been hunting for dining room chairs but haven’t had much luck – hopefully I’ll find something I love soon!

    Reply

  4. Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says

    Very pretty – love the flow of the natural wood look from the kitchen to the dining room. Honestly…how many times did you just sit at the table to “test” out the chairs. That is totally something I would do….or stand there and stare at them trying to picture them around every season…halloween, christmas, etc.

    Reply

  5. Janice says

    Well, I am so glad to see those chairs go. Sometimes things just don’t work.

    I am thrilled with the new chairs. I love wicker chairs in the dining room, have this one pinned on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pin/72409506478375724/ but I don’t have the space in my dining room. I searched for the perfect dining room chairs (antique balloon backs) for 12 years after I bought my house, so hey – you’re much faster than I am!

    Reply

  7. Julie says

    love love love them! And since that room is the first thing people see when they come in your house (aka, your home’s first impression), finding chairs that you love is very important. “Wop wop” turned “Woo hoo”! Nice work.

    Reply

  10. Julie says

    I love the new ones! It’s so very hard to admit defeat time and money are invested, but sometimes it definitely is the right choice. We just have to give ourselves permission to make a mistake and move on from it! Liberating, isn’t it?

    Reply

  11. Kate says

    Love them and love watching your spaces evolve. Our dining room was the very first room we bought furniture for and decorated when we moved in. A couple of years later, alomst all of it has been craiglisted for pieces we love much more and fit our aesthetic much better. It’s a process!

    Reply

  14. sally says

    They look like they lean backwards pretty far – can you lean back in the chair and eat or will you have to sit ‘up’ to eat and lean back to lounge?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The lower back support is nice if you want to sit upright to eat or have an intense conversation, or you can recline like John’s doing for a more relaxed thing.

      xo
      s

  15. Claire H. says

    The new chairs look AMAZING! Love the wicker and how it perfectly fits in the place without being all “matchy matchy.” I feel like every thing I buy for my home is something I love, bring home, try to make it work and then realize it doesn’t. Right now I’m feeling the wrath of a too-small and clash-y rug in the living room I’m hoping to replace someday soon. Oh well, live and learn!

    Reply

  18. nancyo says

    I love all of the changes with the chairs. Since reading about your DIY stuff, I have strated refinishing furniture. I buy chairs cheaply from craigslist or goodwill, reenforce them and pretty them up. I’m hoping to post more pictures as well as before/after too. Check it out :)

    http://chairswithcharacter.com/

    Reply

  19. Mollie says

    hate to be so demanding/impatient, but now i can’t wait to see what it all looks like with a light fixture hung!! love, love, loving those chairs.

    Reply

  20. Carla says

    I see you’ve tried the “left-over” chairs outside but they feel “forced”. Did you try them near the drive-way where you guys watch Clara and the neighborhood kiddos play?

    Reply

  23. Catherine @ DCCL says

    LOOOOOOOVE. Your dining room looks like a really swanky boutique hotel now. Any plans for a rug in there?

    I have had two big oops moments lately. 1. I bought a sofa on CL and had it reupholstered. It turned out beautifully, but now that it’s in my space I feel like it’s a little too big. I’m 90% sure I can make it work (how often does design look good 1/2 way through the decorating process anyway, right??), but I’m still a little bummed about it. and 2. I decided to paint my bedroom SW Loyal Blue this weekend (that’s the color Emily Henderson used in her home office), and I don’t know what the heck is wrong with me, but I’ve now gone through two gallons and three coats, and it’s STILL not even. I’m going to be returning to the store for my third gallon sometime this week… Arg. You guys make it look so easy!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      When Clara’s past the play-doh and yogurt spilling stage I think we’ll be braver about bringing in a rug. Haha! But once we refinish the floors a deeper color it’ll hopefully ground things too! As for your oops moments, they totally happen to the best of us. We can SO relate! Good luck with everything!

      xo
      s

  26. Christie Ann Bieber says

    I’m certain you’ve tried reupholstering before? Surely you have. Those original ones don’t look like they would be that difficult to do (not that they were the right size for the room as you point out).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Trust me! I was desperate to make them work, but getting a clean look of fabric on all sides of that back slat really terrified me (I even tried taking one apart only to see a mass of crazy internal staples and holding devices that made me sure it was over my head!).

      xo.
      s

  27. amybeth says

    LOVE THE CHAIRS! It fills that huge space so nicely! I can’t remember if you have addressed this but do you have any plans for a rug under the table? I feel like the room needs “grounding.” (can you tell I just discovered all the free HGTV online content? lol) Although I guess if you stain the floors darker it might do the trick…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, we’d love to add something someday although for now with Clara eating yogurt and playing with play-doh we think we’ll wait a little, haha. But once we refinish the floors in a darker color it should ground things nicely as well :)

      xo
      s

    • jake says

      you know, you could always just contain clara for things like that in the kitchen…certain areas for certain things…no sense in waiting…I also think it promotes a good sense of “nice” areas from “areas that we can be messy in”…just saying…I knew I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink certain things outside the kitchen and def wasn’t to play with playdoh anywhere except the kitchen…come on…

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, in our house it’s a play-doh and eating area only in the dining room, not the kitchen (I’ll get to why in a second). She sits in her highchair there and that’s where she can play with messy stuff- it’s her zone! It’s not a play-doh free for all in our entire house, haha. We just eat at that table and use that table for things like markers and play-doh since it’s easier to get that stuff out of the wood floors than the cork ones or the rugs in other rooms :)

      xo
      s

  31. Stephanie says

    Wow. I loveeeee those chairs. They look so comfy. I love how big they are with the big table. The scale is perfect.

    I painted a dresser this weekend (FINALLY!). I took it from my grandparents house after my Nana passed. I cleaned it, sanded it some, and painted it black. I just need to seal it now.

    It looks AMAZING and I love that it’s been passed down from my grandparents. I was looking at it while cleaning it and I’m pretty sure that my grandfather was the one who stained it. He had a tendancy to trash pick. So we think he found it, cleaned it up and stained it for his house. Now I’ve done the same. :)

    Reply

  33. Jennifer says

    Love it! These are so great inside and you have the room!! Double score! Let me know when you are ready to sell the parsons and the outdoor ones! You know where to find me ;) !!

    Reply

  36. Kelly says

    I’m so happy. It looks beautiful. I really, really did not dig the old ones; although, I really loved all your attempts to spiff them up and did learn that painting chairs could be an option.

    Reply

  37. Jodi says

    I think I made an audible gasp when I saw your new chairs! The wicker chairs just seem to be more “you” and look wonderful in your dining room. I can’t wait to see what type of light fixture you decide to go with for above the table. I love it when a room finally comes together!

    Reply

  40. Letty says

    Hi! I’ve missed commenting on here! (I’ve started reading your site from Google Reader while at work–ssshh!–so I never comment anymore.) But I’m still here reading and loving you guys. :) I had to comment now to congratulate you on the chairs– they look fantastic!! They are tied with the new slatted island stools in the looks department, although John’s relaxed pose-face makes me think these are his favorite. ;) Love you guys- xo Letty

    Reply

  41. Heather says

    The scale of these chairs is way better than the other ones. I love watching how you guys refine things — I am so apt to just live with it because the refining seems to take so much effort and is often so frustrating. This, however, was an epic score and shows how perseverance (and a l ittle risk) pay off.

    Reply

  42. Katherine says

    The thing that the chairs need to keep dinner guests comfortable are back cushions. Set the table and sit up to your dinner plate to get the ‘feel’ of where you need support {lower back for sure}. Sit back enjoy your glass of wine – this is how you will determine the volume that the back cushion needs to have to support you in comfort {height and depth of cushion}.
    The base seat cushion needs to have added support inside the wrap for support.
    It’s a custom upholstery job or a healthy DIY with straight-line sewing {and a little zipper installation}.

    Reply

  43. Carli says

    Absolutely LOVE these!! What a difference. And they go so well with the stools in the kitchen! The size of the chairs helps so much with the scale in that room too! Great find. They honestly look so great!! :)

    Reply

  45. Whitney says

    This is so funny! I just bought a new dining room table with two benches, so I need to chairs for the ends. I wanted some wicker-esque chairs at Ikea this weekend that looked very similar to these and my boyfriend was like “wicker really?!” So I left without them. I just send him this post and looks like I will be making the drive back up to woodbridge! Thanks!

    Reply

  46. Emma says

    Score! Those chairs are so chill! They just make me think of vacationing (don’t know why). The new chairs are much more calm and “at ease” than the old “uptight” hotel chairs. Oh dear – I’m personifying chairs. Moving on. Enjoy!

    Reply

  48. house Crazy Sarah says

    I love the wicker look in that room – just warms things up so much and brings in rich texture! I think they work very well with the wood chairs int he kitchen. Kind of gives that part of the house a nature look!

    Reply

  49. LauraC says

    I like 99% of what you guys do, but I’d be kind of lame if I liked everything. Not a wicker fan here, especially indoors. But that may be because my MIL has it all over inside, and it just doesn’t work in her space (though she loves it). Sherry, you know I’m a big fan, so it’s not a criticism, just an opinion! It is fun to be excited about something you find and love!

    Reply

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