Losing My Sanity to Four Cheap Chairs

I went on a date with the boyfriend last Friday, planning on having a laid back night of shopping for upcoming crafts as well as feasting on delicious southern-style cooking.  However, I find that I have a tendency to mess up plans, especially when furniture is involved.  When we pulled in to the parking lot of JoAnn Fabric, we noticed there was also a Savers right next door.  Uh oh!  I should’ve known right at that moment that the whole night would be flipped on its head.

We went into Savers after being harassed by rude JoAnn workers, ready for solace.  San stopped right away to look at books while I cleared a path across the store to the furniture section.  I was on the lookout for a mirror to use as a chalkboard.  I had my bargain-scouting eyes on and wasn’t going to let any cheap plastic tv stands get in the way of a good deal.  Before I had even scoured the place, my eyes wandered to the top of a magical platform which held the most incredible chairs I had ever seen, well the most incredible chairs with a $5.99 price tag I’d ever seen.  They were curvy, vintage, large, and there were four of them.  Four matching incredible $5.99 chairs just beckoning me to buy them.  Then, remembering why I had ventured clear across the store, I looked to my left and saw a large oval mirror with a curvy wooden frame.  The price?  Also $5.99.  This couldn’t be real.  I immediately ran to get San, looking back every four seconds to make sure nobody was eyeing my treasures.

As soon as I reached San, he could tell by my face that we would not be leaving the store any time soon.  I had my crazy furniture-spotting face on.  It always scares him.  I don’t blame him, I go crazy over furniture, especially when it’s furniture that I can afford, which is usually never.  He inspected the chairs, thought they were okay, but commented that there was no way to get more than two of them back to my apartment in his little car.  I had my parents on my cell phone within seconds for advice, and they suggested I call my roommates and that my dad would be able to pick me up for Thanksgiving break to take the chairs home if they really meant that much to me.  Gotta love a dad who loves good deal just as much as I do.

Then I called my roommates, who of course were in the one place in the cities where service is bad, the Mall of America.  We played phone tag for what felt like ages while other customers were eyeing MY chairs.  I begged and pleaded with them to drive me to get the other two chairs the next day, and one thing led to another and I was running down the aisles looking for a salesperson to talk to.  I finally found one who told me I was able to hold the chairs over for one day after buying them.  I thought for about two seconds and then told her I would be purchasing all four chairs and the mirror.  My total came to $32.08!!!!  Thirty dollars for four chairs and a huge mirror.  Now that I can afford!

I just have to show off my great finds.

     The chairs will be very easy to recover.  There is also a small bit of damage to the woven back of the two armed chairs, so I may replace those with cushions or something. The frame of the mirror is laminated wood, so I will have to get special paint for it.  I think I will buy sheet metal to replace the mirror with so that the corkboard will be magnetic.

So you might be wondering what I am going to do with the chairs.  Well let’s see, do I have a dining room table? Nope.  Do I have any use for four dining chairs?  No…  Do I have the time, money, or space to paint/stain and reupholster the chairs?  I don’t believe I do.  So, why did I buy them?  Because I couldn’t pass them up!  I will use them when I have a place of my own that has a dining room or a breakfast nook that requires seating of some sort.  I will deal with making the chairs even more gorgeous when I have a space to put them in.  I think I am slightly crazy for buying them, but did you see them?  How could I pass them up?  They may just sit in my parents’ basement for a couple years, but after that they will be out for everyone to see!

Let’s take a vote: do you think I’m crazy or still a somewhat-sane individual?  I vote that I’ve always been a little crazy, so this sort of thing doesn’t even surprise me.  Have you ever bought anything like this on a whim?  What do you think of the chairs and the mirror?