So long, chair:

So, remember last week when I posted about our new chair? Well, my big plans are officially out the window. It's just not going to work out. And while we're bummed, some things just don't quite happen like you plan. We're chalking it up to a learning experience.

I was off work on Monday, so I decided to tackle the chair project. Up first? Demolition. We had to completely strip the chair of all that worn and nasty upholstery. Our plan was to take it down to the frame, re-wrap it, and upholster it with a lovely dove gray velvet I had found. But when we took it apart, it became obvious pretty quickly that it was going to be more a problem than I had anticipated. So we stripped it, inspected it, re-evaluated, and ultimately made the decision to let it go. 

Here are all the factors that influenced our final decision:

1. The chair was a lot older than we had initially suspected, which isn't a deal breaker, but could present problems down the road.
2. One of the pieces of wood that made up the base of the chair was split, so that would have to be removed and completely replaced.
3. One of the arms was loose so it would have to be bolted/screwed in multiple places to make it secure.
4. It had been reupholstered so many times the wood frame (especially around the top) had so many holes from years of staples that we were afraid the new upholstery wouldn't hold. Seriously, it looked like it had a serious case of termites.
5. The channels in the barrel back were sewn by machine, hand-stuffed, and then hand-stitched which made it incredibly labor intensive (and potentially stress inducing).
6. When we added up the cost of materials (new legs, new cushion, upholstery, repairs, etc) the total project would run us upwards of $300 -- not bad for a chair that was free to begin with but not what we had anticipated. I figure if we're going to shell out that kind of money, I'd rather invest in furniture that's in better condition and could potentially be with our family for the long haul.

I wouldn't call it a fail, just an opportunity that didn't work out. The same thing happened with the ottoman we had envisioned pairing it with. So, yes, I'm bummed that all my ideas keep falling through but the positive in all this is that it's led us down other roads. We have been exploring our options and I think we've found something that will work even better for us. So, this whole process helped us to become better in tune with what we want. See? Learning experience.