We finally found chairs for the dining room, thanks to a Craigslist tip from our friend Sandra—muchas gracias!
You might be thinking: Parsons chairs? Yes—exactly what we wanted from the start. Thirty dollars each? Sold. The green-and-blue swirly fabric? That’s another story.
Because the price was right (we negotiated them down to $25 per chair, $200 total for eight) and the shape and construction were excellent—solid, well-made pieces—we decided to take the plunge. We checked tutorials on dyeing fabric, making slipcovers, and reupholstering Parsons chairs, so we felt confident we could transform the upholstery. Our plan is to end up with eight affordable, sturdy Parsons chairs without the current “unique” fabric. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
To get them home I borrowed my sister’s Explorer—there was no way they would all fit in our Altima without multiple trips—and drove about 90 minutes round trip to Mechanicsville. I wish I’d brought a camera (or a better phone camera) because the seller lived on a large horse farm with beautiful scenery. Sherry and Clara stayed home to leave room in the car, so I missed the chance to take more photos for them.
The seller was quite a character. I assumed I’d be picking up the chairs from his dining room, but instead he led me to several large storage crates in the backyard. For a moment I wondered if I’d wandered into a Craigslist horror story, but he rolled up one crate door to reveal it packed with chairs. I never heard the full story of where they came from; my guess is a hotel auction or bulk liquidation. What mattered was that they were in good condition—sturdy, clean, and free of pet or smoke odors—and that he was happy to let eight of them go.
Back home, I posed triumphantly with my haul—cheesy, yes, but sometimes you humor your spouse who’s chasing you with the camera. I was pretty proud to fit all eight chairs into my sister’s car in one trip. I even called Sherry and teased that I could only fit six, then finished with a triumphant “just kidding!”
For reference, here’s what our dining room looked like without chairs:
And here it is now with the new arrivals. Only seven are shown—Sherry prefers a slightly airier layout for everyday use, and we’ll add the eighth chair when we need it. For now it’s keeping company with most of our extra stuff in the playroom.
We keep reminding ourselves to look past the bold pattern and appreciate that we scored the exact style we wanted: clean lines and solid construction at a fraction of the new price.
The best price we’ve seen for a new Parsons chair is about $85, and retailers like Pottery Barn sell similar chairs for much more. If we can update the upholstery for under $60 per chair, this was an excellent deal. Until then, the dining room might have a temporary “conference room” vibe, but the savings and quality make it worth it.
Sherry found tutorials for dyeing fabric directly on furniture, although dyeing feels risky, so we may skip straight to making slipcovers or reupholstering them in the crisp apple-green color she’s wanted from the start. So that’s the tale of driving out to a farm and fitting eight $25 chairs into my sister’s Explorer. Do you have recent Craigslist scores or stories about fitting something improbable into your car? We’d love to hear them.