Dear Tullsta Chairs
Dear Tullsta Chairs:
I am writing this letter as apology to you, dear chairs. I know it seems like I have loved you and kept you in my life for some time now, but I must confess: that was not my intention from the beginning. You see, when I bought you nine years ago at IKEA, I barely had two Kroners to rub together and I really needed some seating in my den in my new condo. My husband I had just bought the place and had started merging our belongings. Once I convinced him to get rid of that big awning striped grandma sofa (now that was a close one), I bought you to go beside your Swedish brother, Karlstad. Now, I must be truthful with you, I wanted snazzier versions of both of you, but it has already been said that just wasn’t in the financial cards for me at the time. As you know, your brother has moved on (well, actually stayed on) to a new owner who now lives in the condo. “Yes, but we’re here!,” you say. “We made the move!” Well, this is true, but again, not because I adored you, but because, well, because we needed some temporary seating while we waited for some “real” furniture to arrive in the new place. Hard to hear, I’m sure, but wait: all is not lost! When the “real” furniture arrived and I placed it in the living room, there was a gaping hole where another occasional chair was clearly needed. Yes, I admit, I spent quite a few nights scouring my favorite sites for the perfect chair for that spot. And yes, what ultimately stopped me from purchasing one was the fact that I couldn’t bring myself to pay for one after I had spent as much as I already had on the new house and furnishings. But, I started to see you in a whole new light. I really always have liked your lines, and others have, too. I admit I’ve always been a little surprised when people picked you out of all of our furnishings and said: where did you get those chairs? They’re so comfortable and cool! Maybe it was the orange silk pillows I put on you, or the new metal legs I had swapped out for the wooden ones, but I really did wonder if they were yanking my chain. Seriously? Um, doesn’t everybody who frequents IKEA post-college pick up this chair for her first apartment? I suppose I have seen your doppelganger in much more expensive stores, so maybe the praise really was sincere. Hmmm.
So here is the exciting part (although I wouldn’t blame you if you can’t forgive me for all that I’ve just said): you really did look great in that hole in the living room arrangement. And I realized that by covering you with a favorite fabric that I’d really be pleased, heck I might even love to have you back as part of the new gang. Yes, we did hit that snag when I realized that a full slipcover in the fabric that I chose would cost $600 to have done (ouch), but I think our compromise of just doing your cushion and a little accent pillow has really breathed some new life into you. Oh, and that coupled with your new crisp white cover that I got back at the Swedish motherland for $30. That helped, too.
You know, having you still here is teaching me a valuble lesson about reusing and repurposing. Although I would have loved that new chair (I know, quit while I’m ahead...), I feel pretty good that I didn’t have to spend the money on a new chair and that I didn’t have to have a chair fabricated and shipped just for me, all the way to this little island. (It was really getting to me all of those boxes I had to put out for recycling each week, even for the things that we absolutely had to have). You’ve actually been an inspiration for me to not easily dismiss, change or discard the things I don’t love about this place. You know those little fishy tiles in the bathroom downstairs that were on the demo list? Well, don’t tell anyone, but they’re growing on me. I can’t look at their little fish faces and think about getting rid of them, just because they don’t fit into my ‘ideal’ look for the place. And, they kinda go with the place, seeing as we’re a stone’s throw from the water and all.
So, thank you, dear Tullsta chairs (rest assured, your counterpart is happily living in the ‘man lounge’ in the garage). You have taught me an important lesson AND you look pretty darned good these days, if I do say so myself. Looks like you bought yourself a few more years.
With gratitude,
Amy
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Hi Amy! You chair looks beautiful!!!! I LOVE the bird fabric. And your blog is pretty amazing too! For the record - I adore IKEA... even for chairs on occasion.