Young House Love

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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. Jacque says

    SO,soo excited for you on your latest score!! I am a frequent Craigslist-er(um, okay, STALKER!).I have found the most amazing things~a few to bring home and breathe new life into, and even more that I was able to put to use immediately. I really believe that if I won the lotto tomorrow, I would still be doing things the same way(unless, perhaps I just couldn’t find something!) The list is long: a $25 armoire(took only $35 to make it look like the $600 piece it was originally), a $10 PB bench, a Clayton Marcus mint-condition sofa/chair 1/2 and otto for 100 beans,and on and on. Definitely a passion of mine as well. Thanks for inspiring the masses~Kudos to both of you!

    Reply

  2. Jenny says

    Nice score! They look really good. Those PB slipcovers are so classy….and you could use fabric and they’d be washable, so the wipeable-leather factor would be taken care of.

    Sherry, sewing is not hard and so fun…you’ll have a lot of fun with it! My mom used to teach sewing to neighbors when I was a little kid, and would give me a project to keep busy with, and I picked up some skills that way, but it doesn’t take much to get started.

    I’d suggest starting by going to the fabric store and getting a couple of yards of cheap, fun fabric to play with (or wait, what about all your clara fabric??). Then read the manual for how to thread the machine, and start playing around with it. Cut two pieces the right size for a pillow, Sew-em together inside out, leave a little (4-inch?) gap to turn them right side out, stuff it and stitch the last little bit by hand using your DIY know-how as best you can…and you have a pillow and some experience! Just do some fun little things until you get up the courage to tackle those slipcovers! You can also ‘draw’ on the fabric by stitching a straight line but moving around the fabric like it was paper under a pen…fun! You’ll love it when you get going.

    One tip: if the thread starts getting all tangled up and you feel like cussing out the machine, take the spool of thread off the machine and rethread the whole thing. That fixes about 95% of problems, in my experience.

    Good luck! And kudos to you both for having such great DIY gusto!

    Reply

  4. Diana says

    The fabric color could be a LOT worse! If you want to slipcover them, why not go to IKEA and get one of their parson chair slipcovers for a pattern. They are cheap, about $30, and look like they’d be really easy to copy.

    Reply

  7. Julie says

    Also, I named the chair I reupholstered “Mr. Bivens.” He’s (the chair) lives with my best friend. I reupholstered it for her.

    Reply

  8. Kate @ Travelmoon says

    What a great find! They will look so good once slipcovered around your table. I never seem to find those good Craigslist find, but I am going to sell 2 Parsons chairs that I purchased from World Market on there and see if anyone will buy :)

    Reply

  10. Selina says

    It’s kind of weird, but I don’t think the print looks that bad. Congrats on the great deal. I love that when that happens!

    Reply

  11. Yancey Young says

    Wow! Those are an excellent find! Although you don’t care for the pattern, you lucked out in that it is old Maharam or Momentum Crypton upholstery. Excellent stain reppelling, water resistant fabric. If you decide to slipcover them, at least you have good durable upholstery underneath.

    Oh and FYI…we just brought two 8ft tall bald cypress trees home in my Scion XB (the Box, is how we kindly refer to it)to plant in our back yard. We are constantly amazed at how much we manage to fit in the back of that car!

    May the force be with you on the chair project! Looking forward to seeing the outcome!

    Reply

  12. Erin C. says

    You could do slip covers so easily on a simple shape like those chairs. We found so much of our furniture on Craigslist. My husband drives a Ford Focus hatchback and you would be surprised at how much cargo room is in that baby with the back seat folded down. One time we got a 4 drawer dresser in there. I was pretty proud of that!

    Reply

  13. bw1426 says

    World Market has these parsons chair covers: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3910264

    For $30 a cover it might be worth a try to see if they fit or a were a close fit that you could easily tweak. They’re 100% natural fiber so should take dye wonderfully. You could also use some $10 off $30 coupons to bring the price down more. I always feel like I’m getting away with something when I use a World Market $10 off $30 coupon–it feels like such a big win!

    Reply

  15. Erica says

    We have a hyundai elantra hatchback. It is the bomb.

    Once we fit an entire range in it with plenty of room to spare. My inlaws were pretty stunned.

    We also fit a bedframe with headboard/footboard from ikea plus the matching huge dresser. Plus a few other lamps and accessories. That was pretty impressive actually.

    I found some patio furniture on craigslist this weekend and am hoping to fit the whole set in – 6 chairs, two side tables, and a 4×6 table!

    Love our car.

    Reply

  18. Ames says

    I can’t wait to see what you guys do with these! I agree that they are pretty hotel looking….but I can already tell that they are going to be awesome!

    Reply

  19. Thresha says

    I love the style of these chairs! And I can’t wait to see how you reupholster or make slip-covers for them. I have an old chair of my grandma’s that looks similar but it’s wider and shorter. I really want to re-cover it or do something to freshen it up but I’m stalling because I don’t know where to start!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Nope, I have the iPhone. Haha. Because I approve comments while he drives. He got a cheap $20 cell phone that he laments every day. It’s hilarious.

      xo,
      s

  23. Tonya says

    The pattern isn’t horrible and the colors actually pick up on what has already been stablished. I am sure whatever you do to spec the chairs out to your style will be awesome! I can’t wait to see what’s next!

    Reply

  25. Mercedes says

    How awesome is that! When I have a big girl house of my own I totally want parsons chairs! Currently my house is almost too small for the table and chairs that I do have. But I can hope and dream!

    Reply

  26. Gina says

    I know it would be a little more than $60/chair (probably closer to $80), but carrington court makes slipcovers for parsons chairs that I have ordered before (can see a pic of the slipcovers we bought here http://combinedaverage.blogspot.com/2009/08/pics-of-our-portlandseattle-trip.html). Mine were $70 before tax (the Amity slipcover that comes in different style backs http://www.carringtoncourtdirect.com/detail.cfm?ProductID=609). Anyway, they have a boatload of fabric to choose from (we had ours made in a kid-friendly micro fiber), but you also have the option of sending in your own fabric if you don’t like their selection. AND, since I know cost is a big factor for you guys and that custom slip covers can cost a fortune (because the tailor is having to create a pattern from scratch), another option is to order just one slip cover from a place like carrington in your own fabric then diy the other 7 using their slipcover as your template!

    Reply

  28. Melissa says

    Surprisingly, I don’t totally hate the fabric and it’s not too far from your blue/green color scheme you have going. I see the hotel conference room reference since I just got back from 5 days in hotel conference rooms. Fun!

    I think slip-covers might be the way to go at least initially if you can find fabric at the right price. Do you own a sewing machine? Even a cheap one is a great investment and I think it takes less time, and you get better results than most no-sew options (no offense to your bedroom drapes of course)!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I don’t have one yet but I’m planning to get one since I want to sew a birthday quilt and banner for Clara’s first birthday (from all of her weekly fabric).

      xo,
      s

  29. debbie c says

    I don’t think the fabric is that bad-there actually kinda cool …..I just saw some green leather chairs in Home Decorators catalog on sale for $79….but I guess you did better than that for $25!! If you decide to make slips for them check out IsabellaandMaxrooms blog she just made some out of drop cloths and has a tutorial on how to make them.

    Reply

  30. ginai says

    Love them!
    and John is looking quite sexy as usual… ya’ll are the cutest couple!!!!
    Love everything that ya’ll do!

    Clara and Burger too ((:
    ginai

    Reply

  34. Erin J says

    I realize that was a long trip to pick up the chairs, but can I suggest you buy 2 more of them? I have 8 dining chairs and when the two we usually sit in started wearing after time, I wished I had a couple of spares. I also wish I had spares when we ended up with a big family gathering and wanted to squeeze a few extra chairs in the room. It’s nice to have a couple of extras (and for only $25) for when you need them, since you know that these are hard to find and that guy just happens to have a gazillion in his storage pod! Just an idea!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love that we can always go back for more if we need them! Eight is the magic number for now (especially since one is already in the playroom as an “extra”) but who knows where we’ll end up…

      xo,
      s

  35. Dee says

    I thought you wanted to make bolder decorating choices this time around in you new house. What’s with all the “crazy” talk about the chair pattern. Go with it! The colors look pretty Sue the napkin to me.

    Reply

  36. Kathryn says

    Wow, great deal!

    I have my own fit-a-ridiculous-number of Parsons chairs in my car story. I bought six chairs from World Market (coincidently in an apple/lime green, but they no longer sell them), and managed to fit all six (unassembled) in my VW Beetle. I also once fit an entire assembled console table. I’m pretty proud of the amount of stuff I can fit in my car.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We couldn’t pull the trigger because it was going to be about $800 for all eight. So $200 is much better! Plus we get to DIY them one way or the other. Which actually is our idea of a good time. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  39. Anita says

    Great find! Gotta love Craigslist – and so glad John won’t be among the missing people on some Friday night tv special.

    I have to say.. I was shocked to notice that you haven’t painted the dining room yet!!

    Reply

  40. Jennifer S. says

    Slipcovers would be the way to go. Think about food spilling or toddles wiping their hands on the chairs. Then you could just toss the slipcover in the wash — something you could not do if you reupholstered them.

    Reply

  41. Breanna says

    I haven’t been through all the comments but have you guys headed over to ana-white.com recently? She has plans to build the parsons chairs AND the slip cover plans as well. You already have the chairs, you would just be able to substitute your chair measurements for the slipcovers!

    Reply

  42. Erin says

    They’re going to be awesome guys!

    Since you asked, this is my favorite Craigslist story. I think at one point I was literally in tears, praising God for His love. :) Hehe!

    Way to go, guys!

    Reply

  43. Laura says

    Hi John & Sherry,

    I drive a Honda Fit. The thing looks teeny tiny on the outside, but I’ve managed to fit all sorts of things in it with a passenger taking up one of the seats! 8 foot ladder, a leather chair (recliner size), and all sorts of other furniture! As my husband likes to say, EVERYTHING FITS IN THE FIT!

    Reply

  44. Wintry Mix says

    Am I insane for thinking that the current pattern isn’t horrible? Granted, once you multiply it by 8 chairs it’s definitely too much, but….I’ve seen much much worse. And there’s no question that you guys can reupholster them and come out way ahead. This is another brilliant YHL/Craigslist moment as far as I’m concerned.

    So about cramming Craigslist purchases into vehicles, I will never stop being psyched about fitting a Craigslist-purchased queen-sized rustic wooden headboard into my Ford Focus hatchback a few years back. A Ford Focus is tiny, yall! It’s an economy car! But with the 3-D space that the hatchback provides, it’s like Mary Poppins’ bag, I swear.

    Reply

  45. Erin says

    They’re going to be awesome guys!

    Since you asked, Way to go, guys! this is my favorite Craigslist story. I think at one point I was literally in tears, praising God for His love. :) Hehe!

    Way to go, guys! PS LOVE the post title.

    Reply

  46. ginnie says

    Awesome score! The chairs look great around the table..actually from the one picture where the chairs are kind of far it actually looks okay..it’s like a Monet..up close it’s bleh! I can’t wait to see what you guys do with them and glad to hear that you’re alive given that you had to go to his storage unit in the backyard! Yikes..

    Reply

  48. adrienne gilliam says

    AHHH! I love when great deals like this happen! We purchased a vintage table that values @ $500 for $60 at an estate sale! It seats 10 people with all the extra leaves. So I drove 3 hours round trip with my honda pilot and 3 month old and miracle of all miracles shoved this table into the suv. There was no turning back at this point! I have a permanant indentation in my 3rd row leather seat, but my dining room has never looked better!

    Reply

  49. Jessica W says

    Not gonna lie. I’m loving some craigslist myself. I also find myself looking for parsons chairs every time I walk into a store. I can stop that now that you’ve found some. haha :)

    We bought a Bissell Little Green steam cleaner for 30 bucks on craigslist two weeks ago…cleaner included…retails for around 70 on amazon. Awesome deal. Cat-smell-free carpets!

    Good luck with the slipcovers (dyeing makes me frightened)!

    Reply

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