I Just Wanted A Chair With No Bottom

Nov
5

Then I got into the shabby chic look on these weathered yellow ones. And I had to have these wash tubs that would make great garden pots, and there was this really cool rusted manual tiller thing that would look awesome sitting in front of my imaginary barn and….

So I went to an auction on Saturday. I’ve never been to an auction before. This auction was actually held at the house/farm, so it was interesting to poke around there. Ralph Vineyard was 82 when he died and he’s distantly and indirectly related to my family. (In this county, who isn’t?) And yet somehow he didn’t even leave me a chair with no bottom. Go figure.
:fryingpan:

The old farmhouse sits on a hill at a major one-lane road boonies intersection and is something of a landmark around here, so it was fun to walk around the house and farm. I had to stand around and listen to the auctioneer for a few hours before I could even understand what he was saying, and of course the chairs were the last thing they got around to selling off. After I got the chairs, people kept telling me, “Those are great chairs. You can sand them down, paint them, put new bottoms in them.” Like they were trying to cheer me up after this burst of insanity in which I bought three amazingly crappy chairs. You should have seen the blank looks on their faces when I’d say, “I don’t want to fix them up! I wanted them because they are so crappy!!!”

Isn’t it obvious they are perfect shabby chic plant stands???

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15 Responses
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11-5
8:59
am

Shabby chic is cool. I hope you them for a real bargain. :smile:

Congratulations, Desmond!

-Kim

Kim A. -
11-5
9:40
am

Congrats Desmond!! I love the look of shabby chic. Some people just don’t understand though. Hope everyone has a great day.

Leanne :purr: :purr:

leanne -
11-5
10:43
am

I love the shabby chic look! And I think the chairs will make great planters!

Tori Lennox -
11-5
1:27
pm

I guess those people just aren’t very creative in their thinking! :eek: That house looks gorgeous.

Congratulations, Desmond!

Susan -
11-5
2:05
pm

lol you didn’t say how much you paid for your “collectibles” :smile:

catslady -
11-5
2:12
pm

Too much, LOL! Except that I love them.

Suzanne -
11-5
2:53
pm

Ooh, I love them!

Shabby chic is the best. You can literally do anything with that look.

I saw the cutest garden in Brooklyn. They took an old wrought-iron bed (a really pretty one!!!) and stuck it out in the garden. Then they planted different colored marigolds and other short flowers (cockscombs, batchelor buttons, etc…) in tight squares throughout the “bed” like a crazy quilt. Flower “bed,” get it? But it was so cute in the setting. There were also some antique windows stuck into the ground on stakes (different kinds — gothic, farmhouse, dutch…) to frame different views of the garden as you walked through. It was such a cool setting!

And they had your chair planters. That’s what made me think of it.

:hellokitty:

Becky -
11-5
3:31
pm

Do we get to see them when you have them set up?

Alice Audrey -
11-5
3:38
pm

The chairs are absolutely cool! The washtubs are great as planters. I have a tub full of pinks.

Estella -
11-5
4:33
pm

Becky, that garden sounds amazing!! It should be in a magazine. Those are some really good ideas, too. Thank you!
:rockon:

Suzanne -
11-5
4:34
pm

Alice, yes, next spring when I have planters ready for them and put them on the porch, I’ll definitely be posting pics!!

Suzanne -
11-5
5:06
pm

Congratulations Desmond!

The chairs look great for plant stands, are you going to keep them yellow?

Have a good day!

Brandy -
2-21
1:02
pm

Well…..duh! Some people just don’t get it. Love the chairs…….the crappier the better!!! :fryingpan:
I love your site! :flying:

Sandi -
11-27
9:26
pm

I love your old chair also, but my heart is in preserving the never to return antiques, which will ruin out in the rain. A few years ago, I began trying to find and preserve those antique ladder back chairs. Before my time even, they were known as sitting chairs. They could be used at the dining table, then moved to the living room in the evening to accomodate the large families comfort, or when company came to visit. I have been able to acquire just a few of them, and have also rebottomed a few with a seagrass weave. When and if you should decide to preserve and use those old bottomless chairs, please let me know. I wish you would consider using them in a dry setting, rather than in the garden to be destroyed by the rain. My grandfather used to life with us, and he built chairs and baskets from white oak splits, such as your bottoms. The design in your bottom is called the twill weave pattern. When I was ill a few years ago, I also taught myself to make baskets, but I can’t go the woods and cut the trees and make the splits as he did. Please just enjoy and appreciate the heritage of those OLD BOTTOMLESS CHAIRS. Keep up the good work.

Sharon

Sharon -
12-19
7:59
pm

I love your chairs…great buy…did you get a good deal?

Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted

kimmie -