Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 306 Comments

Buying A Thrift Store Egg Chair

I have been obsessed with egg chairs for at least a decade since seeing this hanging one in Domino magazine back in college and this guy from Marie Claire Maison (their French house-related magazine) who has also been in my desktop inspiration folder for at least five years.

So as you can imagine, every time I’m in a thrift store I’m on the eternal egg chair hunt. I dream of hanging one in our sunroom next to the daybed for Clara (or me) to swing around in without killing ourselves. Not sure if we can handle it, but the universe has taken some safety measures and insured that every time I look I have no luck. Yup. So far, no dice. I did get close once (imagine me telling this story like a gal who leans in and whispers that she once nearly caught some mythological creature like Bigfoot or Nessie).

The year was 2011. I saw a picture on cragislist with a giant collection of items that were for sale at a local thrift store. There among the junk was the most amazing egg chair I ever saw. I dove for the phone, knocking books off my desk and pencils to the floor. I probably made some sort of sound like “gaaahhhhh” or “woooooooooo.” When someone answered I said “Egg chair” and panted like a dog. Seriously, I momentarily lost my mind. The woman was very nice but said “oh yeah, as soon as we posted that it sold.” I hope I said goodbye and thanked her but I honestly don’t remember anything after that sentence. I blacked out.

Since then I’ve always been keeping an eye out – even from mainstream stores with higher price tags. For example, Pier 1 now sells this hanging chair for $280:

Swing Chair 280

They also sell this Papasan guy for $80 (they’re known to pop up in dorm rooms and is a little too “reclined” and “wide” to really be as egg-ish as I’d like). So let’s just say the guy above is more my speed and the guy below is more in my price range. Such is life.

Papasan Chair 80

They also sell this guy, who is sort of like Sir Papasan’s fancy cousin who spent the summer in Europe and came back with some swagger. The shape is definitely more egg-ish, but the cushion is a little too frumpy for me (is anyone else getting maxi pad?).

Swinging 179

Fast forward to a recent thrift store run when we popped into about five of our favorite local places (I snapped lots of photos so we’ll have to write that whole adventure up for you as soon as we can size all the pics). Anyway, at the third place I walked by this little set of two chairs and I took this picture. End of story.

Egg Chair 1

Then I got home and uploaded everything and had this “what the heck was I thinking?!” moment when I realized both of those guys above were:

  • very egg-ish
  • in my price range
  • in need of love (which is actually a selling point for me)
  • marginally harder to get hurt on than a hanging egg chair (which is a good thing, since something swinging might spell disaster for uncoordinated runs-in-the-family gals like me and Clara)

So I did the following:

  • lunged towards John who was typing at his desk next to me
  • probably made some sound like “meeeeeeeeeeeep” or “haaaaaaaaaaaaah”
  • pointed to the picture on my screen of the two egg chairs
  • said “can these fit in our car?”
  • convinced John at least one could fit in our car
  • grabbed the kid and ran to the car so fast that we were all strapped in and ready to go when John sauntered up a minute later and started the engine

Oh yeah, it was on. About twenty minutes later we were back at Goodwill and you’re not even going to believe it. The guy on the right was gone. Sold. Sadness. But the guy on the left was still there! And very much egg-ish. And very much in our budget. As in: thirty beans total. And get this- it even swivels!!! So the wind can still be in my hair while the chair is safely planted on the floor of the sunroom. Basically it was very much like buying the Pier 1 Swivel Chair above for $179 but for 150 bucks less, and I’ll get to freshen it up and put my own spin on it (pun intended) with some new pillows instead of anything resembling a giant feminine hygiene product.

Egg Chair2

Sidenote: I totally made an omelette for dinner to celebrate my little egg chair coup. Is that sick of me? Like I was eating his ancestors or something?

I should have taken a photo of John sitting in it for scale, but the back goes up to his shoulder blades  (and he’s 6′ tall). So it’s not a child-sized chair, although it’ll definitely be Clara-friendly (and me-friendly since I plan to set up camp in this chair for the next 20-30 years). This picture of it on a low coffee table in the sunroom doesn’t help with the whole scale thing, but you can see the potential right? He has good lines I think. Good egg-ish lines. Of course that cushion was grody and should not have even been brought into the house, but it has since been relegated to the carport. And you can see the shape even better without it. Me-ow, right?

  Egg Chair3

After playing around with some pillows (which look crazy, but gave me a general idea of what I think could work), I’ve decided I’ll make or find a better fitting seat cushion and then just add a casual back cushion. But it’ll be taller than the little pillow in the picture below because I want the back to be as comfy as the bottom.

Egg Chair4

Will keep you posted for sure. Oh and you know I’m going to freshen this guy up beyond just adding some cushions right?

Egg Chair5

Might have already started on that actually. More details in a few days when he’s all dry and ready for his close up. And of course amid egg chair happy dances work slowly continues on the deck…

Deck Tease

… so we should be back with an update on that front next week for ya. Inch, inch, inch…

Psst- We announced this week’s big giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.

Comments

  1. Carrie says

    This could be your funniest post to date. I was cracking up the whole time.

    Congrats on your lastest edition! I vote you call him Humpty. Pronounced with an Umpty.

    Reply

  4. Christina P (NS) says

    Great inspiration and a good find – I am sure it will look amazing when you’re done with it!
    Side note: Do you not have any wind where you live? I always notice you spray painting outside – I have tried this maybe twice and each time I am forced back into the garage due to no paint actually landing on my piece or random dirt and bugs getting stuck to what little paint may have clung on…….

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thankfully we have some nice calm days (I always wait for those to spray). We also have a big row of tall bushes in the backyard that seem to act as a windbreak sometimes, but I still wait for generally windless days so nothing gets everywhere.

      xo,
      s

  5. Teri says

    So funny!! I totally started reading this as if John had wrote it because of the “Man” reference in the title. As I am going through, I was thinking, John- why are you saying “eek” or getting so giddy over a chair! If it were tools I would understand. Then I got to the bottom where you said you should have took a picture with John in the chair and was like “That solves it!!”.

    Reply

  6. Nicole J says

    I have been lusting over the Pier 1 Swingason for months! I’ve been checking the website regularly throughout the summer to see if it’s on sale, but so far, no luck! Love your find though!

    Reply

  7. Taylor Bowen says

    I can’t wait to see what kind of cushion you come up with! I’ve had one of these for years ($5 at a garage sale, baby!) and I’ve always used 2 floor pillows for a cushion. They don’t work well, since they always slide around, and I’ve always yearned for something with a removable cover. I’ve just never had the time to work on it and just attempting to think about it makes my mind hiccup and start thinking about the more important tasks I need to tackle instead.
    Good luck and so happy you finally found something, in the same shape family at least, that you’ve been looking for!

    Reply

  8. Kaileigh says

    This is funny because I have just been on the hunt for a papasan chair! But I want to find a deal like you did because $200 for one is just too much for me!

    Reply

  12. N Shirley says

    Is it a “mamasan” chair? You might be able to “google” a cushion source for it. Good luck!

    Reply

  14. Jessica says

    You’re hilarious, Sherry! Do you think there’d be any way to turn this chair into a hanging chair? I could totally see you guys working your magic and making it happen.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I’ve thought about that but I think it gets all of the stability from resting on the base, so I wouldn’t trust it in the air. Especially with a spaz like me on it!

      xo,
      s

  15. Sarah@SBrandesDesigns says

    If you were only going to get one I am so glad the other chair was sold already because I like the one you ended up with soooooo much better. One of my college friends had one of those papasan chair at their house…. Except the top part just rested on the base and didn’t attach. We were always falling out of or flipping the darn thing over while sitting it when things would get a little too crazy ha… but I definitely did sleep in it once or twice. Not nearly as comfortable as it seemed. In fact I would wake up in the morning with a really sore back (probably cuz I had to sleep super still to keep from flipping it in the middle of the night)

    Reply

  16. Sheena says

    I found a papasan chair in my old apartment’s trash area & then a matching foot stool for $2 at Goodwill. We love it & make everyone who comes over sit/sink in it.. seriously, getting into it takes commitment. LOL. I’ve been thinking about painting it, but I’m hesitant since you can’t really go back to the bamboo color.
    I did come across some sweet ideas for it though: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/high-end-papasan-tropicalia-co-91309 (if I have a free month to do nothing but wrap my chair in yarn LOL) & this hanging photoshopped/rope version http://www.craftymoods.com/2012/05/cozy-readingnap-areas-for-kids.html. Can’t wait to see how yours turns out!

    Reply

  17. Cheryl says

    The max-i-pad cushion totally doesn’t work in that chair – it almost looks like it is not the original cushion and someone was making do with what they had. It truly belongs at the dump – nasty!

    I think that 2 cushions that are trapazoids would work best – narrower at the front and wider at the back of the seat cushion and narrower at the top and wider at the bottom of the back cushion. And definitely add ties to keep them from sliding around too much.

    After seeing the poof you made for Clara I have confidence in your sewing abilities to make custom cushions for the new chair! Just be sure to make them bigger than you think you want so you can fill them real full so they’re fluffy and comfortable.

    Reply

  18. RachelSD says

    Cool find!

    We had one of those hanging chairs in our backyard when I was growing up… only it was hung over the CEMENT patio and my sister and I injured ourselves countless times falling out of that thing after swinging around in it too much. :) When my mom moved to a nursing home a couple of years ago, it was my task to dispense will all of her stuff…. my sister and I didn’t want the chair, but one of the neighbors came over and asked if she could have it since she’d always admired it and really pictured herself hanging out in it with a glass of wine in her backyard. I was thrilled that someone else would get to enjoy it!

    Reply

  19. amy says

    So weird. I never find anything on my local craigslist but I scour it constantly bc surely thete is something out there I have to have. After reading this post I went to browse All For Sale and 17 minutes ago someone posted the chair on the right for $40. I’m tempted to snag it before I even see how you spruce it up bc I’m sure it’ll be fab!

    Reply

  22. alg says

    My parents bought a very similar egg-shaped swivel rocker waaaaay back in the ’80s. It’s sturdy & comfy & talk about functional (!!) — after 2 kids & 5 grandkids, it’s still going strong. But yeah, the pads are awful. Looking forward to seeing your fix.
    Sonia loves spinning in it, I bet Clara will too :)
    I happen to be working on rehabbing an old Papasan chair myself! (The dorm room kind. Ha, ha, btw!)
    Oh, and the price quoted in the Papasan chair ad you posted doesn’t include the cushion. Or if it does, it’s a STEAL. Those usually run to the tune of an extra $60+
    Can’t wait to see how both chairs come out!!
    Ugh.

    Reply

  23. Erin says

    First off, the deck is looking great! Secondly, I cannot wait to see what you do with the chair. Thirdly, I absolutely love those pillows in the sunroom. I noticed them in the pictures from Clara’s birthday, and have loved them ever since.

    Reply

  24. Jessica says

    Growing up we had one like the Pier 1 Swivel chair. And my almost-stepmother has not only a Swingasan on her screen porch but a giant Papasan too! I haven’t tried the Swingasan, just because I think hers is a vintage original but it’s perfect for my 3yo..and of course we ALL fight over the Papasan. It totally swallows up my daughter :)

    Reply

  25. Elyse says

    very cute, but you totally have a similar shaped chair in Clara’s room don’t you? lol, just thought that was funny…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes! I guess that one is more of a circle than an egg to me, but totally similar! I think my new goal should be 12 egg-ish chairs in the house at all times. I need a nice even dozen of them.

      xo
      s

  26. Lauren in Boston says

    There is a hanging egg chair for sale here in Boston for $100, complete with a stand (safer than hanging?). If you know anyone who will be passing through our area, we can pick it up for you and hang onto it until then.

    Reply

  27. Tracy says

    Ok…let me preface this by saying that I have too much time on my hands right now at work. I swear I’m not a weirdo who photoshops other people’s images all the time. But I think it would be really cool if you make/alter a cushion to follow the lines of the slats in the back of the chair. (tufting would be too much of a pain in the neck, but I put it in so you could see the shape)
    http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll277/murgiddy/public/egg-chair_cushion.jpg
    Perhaps you could alter a cushion like this one, by cutting the corners of the top and bottom cushion off and sewing them back together to make them slant:
    http://www.target.com/p/outdoor-chaise-lounge-cushion-black-beige-damask/-/A-13189864?reco=Rec|pdp|13189864|ClickCP|item_page.adjacency&lnk=Rec|pdp|ClickCP|item_page.adjacency

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I really love that idea! I think for the short term I’ll try to work with something we already have around the house (I’m the pillow queen, haha) but that could be so much fun for a someday sewing project! Also, your photoshopping rules. Loved this!!

      xo,
      s

  30. Marcia says

    I’m dating myself by admitting that I had a rattan hanging chair in my tangerine bedroom of the house we built upon moving back to the States in 1971. My dad bolted it oh-so-carefully into the ceiling joist but there was one small problem: it made me sea-sick!

    Reply

  33. Debbie C says

    Oh Sherry, did you have too much coffee this morning? ;) You are cracking me up! Giant maxi pad, be gone! Can’t wait to see the egg-cellent redo!

    Reply

  34. Jenn @therebelchick says

    My grandparents had a ton of wicker furniture while I was growing up – I think it was required in Miami during the 70’s and 80’s – and they each had an egg chair. My grandfather actually had a hanging one similar to that in your photo, and I have a pic of me when I was 3 sitting in it! :) I have so many wooden things in my house (floors, furniture etc) that I might die if I brought home a new wooden piece of furniture. LOL!

    Reply

  35. Paula says

    My daughter graduated from college this year and returned home with her papasan chair. Of course it landed in our family room which I was not really excited about. But… gotta tell you, I love that chair! It’s great to curl up in (I’m rather petite) to watch T.V. or read! Congrats on your find! And good luck finding the perfect cushion!

    Reply

  36. Mollee says

    Sherry, you are in rare form today! I rarely actually “LOL” when reading blog posts, but I put my head back and let out a loud cackle after your second maxi-pad reference. I don’t think I’ll ever look at an egg chair cushion the same. Thanks for the laugh!

    Reply

  37. Megan says

    It totally does look like a pad. Crazy! Glad you made it back in time to get the one. Nothing like kicking yourself in the pants for eternity….or until the next egg chair shows up.

    Reply

  38. MegP says

    I LOVE egg-shaped chairs. I can’t wait to see this all spruced up with spray paint and pillows/cushions.

    I was in Pier 1 yesterday drooling over their hanging egg chair. The price was something like $450 for the chair + hanging stand. I added it to my mental catalog of “things to buy when I win the lottery.” So in reality, I never expect to own one unless I randomly find one at a thrift store. Which would be like winning the egg chair lottery I guess? Haha.

    Reply

  39. Andrea @ the yellow cottage says

    If anyone in Atlanta is looking for a maxi pad chair of their own, I saw one in real life today just after reading this post – how weird is that? Habitat for Humanity Re-store, $50, it rocks and has a grody white(ish) pad on it. Its the Re-store in Lawrenceville GA on Riverside Parkway, right next to a big Goodwill. Happy thrifting, and may the odds be ever in your favor! ;)

    Reply

  40. Jessibee says

    Oh I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this chair!
    The ‘made an omelette, ate his ancestors’ comment might have made me snort. So LOL! haha

    Reply

  42. Tricia says

    bwahahahaha! you are such a great story teller – I literally laughed for at least 5 minutes imagining you making some strange unidentifiable sound (Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!) and lunging over the excitement! I just love it when a score happens – and share in similar unexplainable actions during exciting moments/finds! love your blog & cannot wait to get the book!

    Reply

  43. Joy says

    ok, kind of (hugely) off topic but where do you go to resize your photos and if you keep them where do you store them when you resize them?

    thanks!

    Reply

  44. Heather W says

    Sherry, love the chair can’t wait to see what you do with it! I have a question though totally off topic. Your art that you do on canvas how do you hang those? Do you put picture hanging hooks on those or do you just hang them off the lip in the back?? I just bought a painting and want to make sure I hang it correctly….Thanks!

    Reply

  45. Alina says

    I have your twin chair! Seriously, almost identical to the one you just bought! And, if it’s possible, we spent even less on ours; some guy was loading it in the back of his truck to take to the dump and we scooped it up for free!

    Reply

  47. Heather says

    Congrats on the papasan find!

    When you make your new round cushion try and add an anchor strap at the back. They sometimes have the tendancy to slip and race for the floor when your not looking. Must be the round eggy shape.

    I loved my old papasan chair – only problem was… when it stormed the dog would sneak into the house and curl up in it! Think long haired and wet! Needless to say the chair has loads of memories attached and I hope that you enjoy yours too!

    Reply

  48. Autumn says

    So fun! I can’t wait to see it completed! Quick question: where are the pillows on the daybed from? I love them!

    Reply

  49. Caitlyn says

    Random and off subject of eggs, but I was reading through some of your older posts about when you guys moved. I tried to find a post (without luck!) about why you guys actually decided to move. Just wondering out of curiousity.
    My next question is this – whatever happened to the credit to turn the carport into a garage? Are you planning to do this still?

    Have an eggcellent day! ;)

    Reply

  50. Lindsay says

    Sherry!! I think it’s worth noting that you began to refer to the egg chair as a “he” towards the end of the post. To me, it seems more appropriate to refer to it as a “she” since, you know, eggs are involved. What does it say a out me that I thought so deeply on the matter that I should leave a comment!?! Can’t wait to see how “she” turns out!

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *