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Getting Cheap Dining Chairs From Craigslist

We finally scored some chairs for the dining room, thanks to this craiglist ad emailed to us by our friend Sandra (muchas gracias!).

DChairs Craigslist Ad2

You’re probably thinking: what are they thinking?! Parsons chairs? Yup, that’s exactly what we’ve wanted since day one. Thirty bucks? Yeah baby. Weird green and blue swirly pattern? Um… no comment.

But since the price was right (we actually bargained them down to $25 per chair, coming to $200 total for all 8) and the shape/lines were right (they’re solid and very well-made) we figured it was time to pounce (with some reassurance from a few online tutorials about dyeing fabric, making slipcovers, or reupholstering parsons chairs). So in the end we hope to end up with eight affordable and well made parsons chairs without this… uh… “unique” fabric. Hopefully sooner rather than later…

DChair Close Up Pattern

As for how we got them home, I borrowed my sister’s Explorer (since I knew we couldn’t fit them in our Altima without making at least three trips) and drove 90 minutes round trip to Mechanicsville to pick up the chairs. I wish I’d brought the camera (or was fancy enough to have a decent cell phone cam) because the guy selling them lived on a giant horse farm, so the scenery was beautiful. And since Sherry and Clara stayed at home (to make room for more chairs in the car) I wished that I could have taken some photos so they could see it.

The guy selling them was a real character. I expected to pick up the chairs from his dining room, but instead he led me back to a bunch of large storage crates in his backyard (I must admit this is where craigslist horror stories started flashing through my mind and I wondered if I was being kidnapped). Then he rolled up the door to one of the storage crates to reveal that it was FILLED TO THE BRIM with these chairs. I never got the story behind how he ended up with so many, but my guess is that they came from some hotel auction or something. All that mattered is that they were in good condition (solid, sturdy, clean, no pet/smoke odors, etc) and that he was happy to let me put a dent in his collection and leave with eight of those babies.

Here I am back home with my booty (that’s not a butt reference, I mean the chairs), cheesy pose and all (sometimes I defer to cheesy poses when Sherry runs towards me with the camera, you know, just to humor her). And yes, I was extremely proud of fitting all eight of them into my sister’s car in one trip. There was even a call to Sherry where I told her I could only fit six so I needed to make two trips with a big fat “just kidding!” at the end.

DChairs John With Truck

As a reminder, here’s what the dining room looked like back when it was chair-less…

DChairs Before Straight

…and here it is now with eight new occupants. Actually only seven are pictured because Sherry likes that more breathable look for “everyday” (we can easily add in the eighth one when we need it – until then it’s hanging out in our chaotic playroom with 99% of our other “extra stuff”).

DChairs After Straight

We keep having to remind ourselves to look past the crazy pattern and enjoy the fact that we scored a serious deal on the exact style of chair (with clean lines and solid construction) that we’ve been eying.

DChairs Vertical

The best price we’ve seen so far on any new parsons chair is around $85 (Pottery Barn sells similar ones for $299!), so as long as we can correct the swirly fabric for less than $60 per chair, we made the right call. Even if it means that our dining room looks a bit like a hotel conference room for the time being…

DChairs Up A Bit

Sherry found a few online tutorials for dyeing fabric directly on furniture that we might try (although dye = scary, so we might skip right to the next step, which would be to make slipcovers or reupholster them in the crisp apple green color that Sherry has been dreaming of from day one). So that’s the story of driving out to a farm and squeezing eight $25 chairs into my sisters car. Maybe you guys have recent craigstlist deals to share? Or an “I can’t believe I got that to fit into my car” tale to tell?

Comments

  1. Erin says

    What a deal! I love the lines and for $25 a chair who cares if they are ugly!

    We have a couple of crazy hauling stories. Full sized washer and dryer in my Honda CRV, and at separate times, a queen headboard/rails/footboard and then a 5 piece patio set in my husband’s old Honda Accord coupe. We go to crazy lengths to not pay for delivery!

    Reply

  2. Ellis Gamel Interiors says

    There are really great parson slipcovers at world market in a green apple/ivory Greek key print that could help you buy some time while you find your perfect fabric or dye solution…. I used them for a client and they are great! Plus, who wouldn’t love multiple slipvover options or seasonal or mood changes? They just might work perfect with “Sue the napkin” too… Great find on your chairs!

    Reply

  4. Crystal says

    Great craigslist score! I’m kinda glad you got these so we can see your DIY version.

    BTW> I have a college friend from Mechanicsville named Bubba. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

    Reply

  5. Snickrsnack Katie says

    Yeah, the dye idea does not sound like a good one, honestly. I have reupholstered chairs before and it is easy-peasy. Slip-covers would be even easier, but that would entail a lot of sewing and whatnot, which I am not good at myself. (I have a sewing machine that I have had for like four years and have never used it! LOL) Good luck with this!

    Reply

  6. Ted says

    How about this…I found these ivory parson’s chairs slip covers for $6.99 + S&H. This solid color would probably dye great and you could hopefully get the color you wanted. If you don’t like the long length, I bet you could cut the bottoms, then hem it up with Sherry’s favorite Stitch-witchery and they’d look great.

    http://compare.ebay.com/like/170598527510?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=221416761977&crlp=1_263602_309572&UA=L*F%3F&GUID=346315c412e0a47a43a0a770ffbc3d27&itemid=170598527510&ff4=263602_309572

    Reply

  7. Lindaroo says

    A sewing machine is just another power tool! (Dyeing is a crazy story in the making; yes, the pattern will show through, and it’s impossible to get everything to match.)

    Reply

  8. Julie says

    Dying=scary, I tried it once, and every single time someone sat on that chair, they ended up with dye on their pants! I think it was also a hotel piece and and some sort of treatment to keep liquids from completely soaking in.

    I vote for slipcovers!

    Reply

  10. Catherine says

    How funny! I feel like those have been on Craigslist for over a year. They always came up when I searched for dining room chairs. I assumed they just weren’t selling, but now it makes sense if he has storage crates filled with them. Congrats on the great price! Can’t wait to see how they turn out!

    Reply

  11. Jordan@the2seasons says

    Nice deal! I think we need a DIY on how to pack a car with craigslist purchases. I am super impressed with 8 chairs in the car. I have the hardest time packing up my suv with Craigslist finds.

    Reply

  12. Katie says

    Score! Can’t wait to see what y’all do with the upholstery.

    When I was living solo in my first apartment, I was in the market for a treadmill (because my 630 sq ft pad just seemed too cavernous without a huge piece of gym equipment). I scored a crazy good Black Friday deal on one, and the sporting goods store even helped me fit it–wedged perfectly–into my Jeep Grand Cherokee. That was the extent of my planning…

    I drove home in the Colorado snow to my second floor apartment, and realized there was NO WAY I could get that thing upstairs. The treadmill had to wait another two weeks in the Jeep before the ground thawed and I sweet talked a friend into wrangling the thing up the stairs.

    Reply

  13. Cristy says

    This isn’t exactly my story, it is my husband’s, but the thought of it is just so funny… his freshman year in college (I’m a year younger so I wasn’t in the picture to lend him any wisdom on this) Christmas break came around and he and his roommate realized they needed to get packed up to go home (they lived in neighboring towns). In true 19-year-old-boy-fashion they didn’t talk to anyone about packing up, they just had a general assumption about what they were supposed to do when they left for 2 weeks- take all of their possesions home with them… everything. The carpet, the mini-fridge, the posters on the walls…. In a tiny little ford ranger (w/a shell on the bed). To my husband’s credit, he has always referred to himself as a “Daddy packer”… in other words he can make anything fit if you just give him the time to pack it all in just right (much in the way your dad might pack all of the family’s luggage for a trip in the back of the station wagon). Never mind the fact that each had moved in w/all of these items filling several vehicles. Oh so silly! (It’s a good thing I came into his life to help him think through some of those issues, huh?)

    Reply

  14. Katie says

    I recently saw awesome leafy apple green slipcovers for parsons chairs at pier one – very sleek and only about $17! Good luck :)

    Reply

  15. sarah says

    I haven’t read all the comments, so maybe someone else has posted this, but Ballard Designs has apple green velvet parson’s chair slipcovers for $59. Though they cover the chair legs, you’d get your green and a cool texture. Online coupons for Ballard sometimes, too . . .

    Reply

  16. Ashley says

    I found an awesome green faux alegator leather fabric that I thought would be perfect for your dining room (a couple months back). I will try to track it down again for you. We have leather parsons chairs and I love its wipeability with two young kids in the house. Of course you might need to get the appropriate needle and test you sewing machine to make sure it can handle the thicker weight.

    Reply

  18. Jessica says

    Maybe someone already suggested this (or you thought of it yourselves), but I recently saw a “Candace Tells All” episode on HGTV where she used indoor/outdoor fabric to upholster a (pretty fancy looking) sofa to make it more “kid-friendly.”

    They took the fabric sample and poured coffee on it to show how liquids seem to just roll right off. There are a lot of these types of fabrics that look really nice and still feel nice to touch. I loved the idea and thought it might be something to keep in mind when looking for fabrics to reupholster your new dining room chairs. (Also, outdoor fabrics tend to come in lots of fun, bold colors!)

    Reply

  19. Lauren Tal says

    Great steal on the chairs— they are going to be a perfect fit! On a side note I REALLY discourage trying to dye them. Without taking the fabric off first there will be really no way to make them entirely colorfast and that can be a nightmare when someone shows up to a dinner party in white capris!

    Reply

  20. Lindaroo says

    … and how great does the room look with the addition of matching chairs! Each layer you add is truly taking the room from big, empty, wasn’t this supposed to be a living room, to a welcoming dining room. I so enjoy watching the process!

    Reply

  21. Barbara says

    Your chairs’ pattern made me think of Futurism/Cubism painting: the swirls, the colours… something like this:
    http://artofday.com/wordpress/?p=2357
    But don’t worry, I’m not trying to ennoble them, I wouldn’t like them this way in my home neither!
    Go on with dying/slipcovering/reupholstering!

    Reply

  22. Anne with an e says

    Great score!

    Can’t wait to see what you end up doing to recover them – I have plain brown Target parsons chairs for my dining table and would love to have the chairs at either end with some sort of pattern for fun – maybe you’ll inspire me to DIY something :)

    Reply

  23. Wendy says

    The color is a bit wacky, but it does match a lot of things in your built-ins. So, thankfully, it will look okay while you start the recovering process. Could you imagine it they were primary colors?

    FYI, if you don’t alread know….your Washington Post article was in the lifestyles section of the Houston Chronicle on Sunday! My husband thought I was a little off my rocker when I was so excited seeing the article, but I have been reading your site since almost the beginning. Congrats!

    Reply

  25. Amber says

    Wow! Awesome find! I’d definitely go with the Slip Cover or Reupholster those guys. No dye. I can see that one going horribly wrong.

    I was a craiglists crazy lady this weekend. I ended up picking up a basically brand new Ikea Ektorp Leather Sofa for $150 off retail. The people lived in this little rowhouse in the city, and my goodness everything about that situation was narrow…. from the living room, to the doorway, to the street. When I talked to the guy on the phone the night before, he asked me if I had transportation to get the sofa home. I said back to him, I’ve got transportation, but is my truck going to fit down your tiny little street? Let’s just say while that transaction was going on, that whole city block was closed off.

    I also picked up a new to me round dining table a couple hours later. The lady lived in the suburbs and when we got there, she was just all sorts of a mess. Her and her husband were in the process of moving out of this house that they were renting from this old lady. Oh it was so disgusting… combine old ladyness with her what seemed like fifteen million toy dogs and cats, it was just a bad situation. On top of that, her husband left her to finish packing while he had to go on a last minute business trip. Yeahhhhh. Ended up getting the table for $60. It was solid wood, and new it probably would have gone for 200-300. Now? Mr. Table meet my friend Mr. Sander. :)

    Reply

  26. karen says

    Great deal! I would for sure go with slip cover instead of dying.
    It will give it that little bit of elegance.

    Reply

  27. MichelleG says

    you guys are great! i would NEVER think to dye chairs but i guess you did have luck dying that wedding dress, right Sherry? regarding DIY slipcovers, do you guys own a sewing machine? or do you think the no-sew approach would be sturdy enough for slipcovers? hmmm……

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Nope, don’t even own one but I’ve been meaning to get one so I can sew a quilt and a birthday banner for Clara with all of her weekly fabric swatches.

      xo,
      s

  29. jidge deloach says

    i couldn’t read all of your comments so you may have already heard this…..emilyaclark.blogspot.com……a blog recently about “painting” upholstery…..wing chair looked good…..can’t imagine painting fabric….and when you say dye you may mean this same procedure….enjoy your blog….read it every day…..you are two talented people and thanks for sharing your life with us….btw….those chairs don’t look bad in the pic with your background color on bookshelves, which i LOVE by the way……

    Reply

  30. Kyle says

    I totally moved an entire two bedroom apartment in a ’92 Pontiac Sunfire. Thank goodness for IKEA furniture!!!!!

    Reply

  32. Holly Hanna says

    Great find! I love the parsons chairs. So classic. FYI I have one for an office chair that I reupholstered myself with NO prior reupholstering experience. The clean lines make it quite easy; just rip off the old cover, trace on the the new fabric, sew, done! Oh and I sewed mine by hand since I don’t own a sewing machine. Hand sewing 8 might be a bit much though.

    Reply

  34. Colleen P. says

    LOL-I’ve had a truck of some sort for the last 15 years, so I’m usually the person getting a free fill up at the gas station for hauling someones furniture.

    Reupholstery is EASY, and very rewarding. I redid a sofa bed, from fixing a broken part of the support structure to replacing the foam in the arms to replacing the springs on the bed part itself. The actual fabric wrangling was the easiest part. There usually is SOME sewing involved, but it’s straight lines. I strongly suggest a small air compressor and a pneumatic staple gun-the hand held ones just aren’t going to do the job and you’ll spend a lot of time tap-tap-tapping your staples back in, and who wants to risk scrapes and swallowed pointy metal things with a toddler around?

    Reply

  35. Ahyatt says

    Anna White has a pattern for a “drop cloth parsons chair slipcover” and a plan for building your own parsons chair that goes into some detail about upholstering it! I bet you could totally figure out a way of using your hem tape for the slipcover instead of sewing. :)

    Reply

  36. Robin says

    I hope you go the upholstery route since I think slip covered chairs like that look very ‘ball room standard hotel wedding’. Which isn’t very dining room home to me, unless of course you’re into that kinda thing.

    Reply

  37. Tracy says

    Great find! I highly recommend fabric.com if you decide to reupholster them, they have a great clearance section. After looking at several of those reupholstering charts online to determine how much yardage I needed for a thrift store chair, I was able to buy 8 yards of upholstery weight fabric for $30! But I still haven’t found the courage to tackle the project yet. Here’s a link to some apple green vinyl:
    http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=ed3c7335-fc8c-43b4-861a-05848b76c3e3

    Our crazy story is not about something we crammed into a car, but something we carried because we didn’t have one. While living in Chicago during college, a friend bought this giant metal bunk bed (that was insanely heavy) and 6 of us carried it, fully assembled, over 20 city blocks to her apartment. Yeah, psycho.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, yup, I finally gave the man his haircut (he’s been asking me for weeks, but I’m a lazy wife so once the baby is asleep I run out of energy, haha).

  39. Shari says

    I saw this ad on Roanoke, Va’s Craigslist for Pottery Barn slipcovers and thought I would forward it to you–maybe if the person has what you need, they could ship it to you or arrange a meeting. Heck, I’d drive 3 hours for cheap PB slips but that’s just me!! Good Luck! P.S. I’m not so savvy with inserting the link but if you search in Roanoke’s ads for slipcovers, this will come up.

    Cover your ugly sofa with a Pottery Barn Slipcover – $30

    ——————————————————————————–
    Date: 2011-03-25, 1:00PM EDT
    Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]

    ——————————————————————————–

    I have some Pottery Barn slipcovers available in a variety of sizes and styles. Several colors and styles for sofas, loveseats, living room chairs, etc. Change your decor with a snap.

    Please email me with questions or if you would like to see what I have available.

    •it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

    PostingID: 2285837093

    Reply

  41. Sarah Higgins says

    me likey.. they will look great with new fabric!! perfect for the space and wow, what a great price :)

    Reply

  42. Kirsten says

    Love craigslist, love the chairs (in apple green, of course!!).

    My best craigslist find was a dollhouse for my daughter this last Christmas–a HUGE wooden 4′ by 4′ by 18″, 12-room FURNISHED dollhouse for $25. Like the kind of dollhouse that costs hundreds of dollars new. I’m still excited about that find!!!!

    Reply

  44. Shannon says

    Shoot. I found a woman last night that does custom parson’s chair slipcovers (as well as slip covers for lots of other Ikea chairs) for really reasonable prices and will even use your own fabric. I instantly thought of you guys but forgot to bookmark it. If I find it again, I’ll post it. She had great stuff!

    Reply

  45. Julie says

    I took an upholstery class (which was INSANE), but the eighty-year-old(!) teacher regularly reupholstered furniture for others at very low cost. The class was offered through the local adult learning center at a nearby high school. So — if you aren’t yet ready to conquer your fear of the sewing machine, you could shop around for a semi-retired, adorably ancient reupholstery God like my own dear Mr. Bivens.

    (On a side note, Mr. Bivens couldn’t ever remember my name, so I joked that he thought I was called “No NO!”, since that is pretty much all he said to me the entire class. Upholstery is not my strong suit.)

    Reply

  46. Melissa Gibney says

    I like the pattern for now, at least it fits in your color scheme. I read somewheres about spray paint for fabric. Wish I could remeber where, but give it a google!

    Reply

  47. Chris says

    When I first read your description, without looking @ the photo, I thought they would be awful. They look great in your dining room! Just couldn’t have much more “busy” in there… What a score!

    Reply

  50. Reenie says

    I kind of like the material with your decor. Great find.

    I got a corner cabinet in my 06 VW Bug. I put a bid on it at an Estate Sale. They called me back said I won the bid….oh shoot ~ how am I gonna get it home?! HA! I called them back ~ had them measure it. I went out opened up the back of Betsy the Bug and measured her….yup it would fit. The back seat lays down flat. I had a guy at the sale help me load it up. I’m barely 5’2″ and the cabinet is a lil taller than me. People are amazed I hauled it home in Betsy =)

    Reply

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