That Chair in the Alley 8 Years Ago.....

The Chair, circa 2005-2013, partially complete

Nearly 10 years ago, while living at Hotel Spaulding, I found a sad armchair in the alley.  It was a few days after the 1st of the month.  It was surrounded by a pile of books and clothing, abandoned. 

It had a great shape and lots of potential.
It was neglected, with horrible fabric and I decided to gut it.  That weekend I tore it apart on the concrete backyard behind Hotel Spaulding.  As with all great projects, I jumped in - no research required.  (this is a pattern, remind me to tell you about the time we tore out the plaster wall without any experience putting plaster up....)

That weekend I met Megan for the first time.  This chair, weirdly, symbolizes our friend-iversary.  She later told me that when she saw this person tearing apart the chair where we all lived, she knew she needed to be my friend.  I think this makes her an awesomely adventurous person that I've been privileged to know for 8 years.


Over the next month I found different pieces of the chair: The chair stuffing and outdoor Waverly fabric on sale at Joanne's, the black furniture tacks and the tiny can of black oil paint at Home Depot, the tiny hammer from...somewhere, who knows anymore. 
I started piecing the chair back together.  I got bored 3/4 through and vowed to "come back to it".

Sometimes you have a week off between Christmas and New Years

Fast forward 8 years later....

Finished!

I had a week and a half off and no real plans for my time.  One evening, between halfway dismantling Christmas decorations and the 5 loads of laundry I was hating on, I decided the chair's time had come.
I broke out the electric nail gun (bought specifically to finish the chair around year 4 of the great chair decade).  An hour and a half later, voila!  I decided against all the pretty lime trim I'd purchased since the wood frame was so pretty and called it quits.  Maybe I'll come back with some black rope trim, or use all that extra fabric to make a pillow - but the chair has met its project-end.

 After 8 years I have a deep friendship and a chair I'm considering selling on Craigslist.