When I told Kendrick that I found a pair of hide chairs at an antique store across the river and that buying them was not, to my mind, an option, he didn’t quite understand why. I mean…we didn’t really need chairs. We’re moving in a few months. They were pretty expensive (not insanely expensive, but still: for whatever reason, even totally uninteresting, big-chain-store chairs are weirdly pricey for some reason).
So why, exactly, was this such a non-optional purchase for me?
Because I think when you stumble across something – and especially an item that will theoretically be in your life forever, getting used and loved every single day, and then get passed down to your children should they inherit your penchant for furry seating options – that is 1) well made, 2) a one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-million-years find (making it both now-or-never and also a decent investment), 3) in absolutely pristine condition, and 4) exactly your (odd, granted) style…
you buy it.
Like my crazy blue lamp (which you can also see in the above shot). And like these chairs.
When I spotted one sitting on the street outside an antique store in Nyack I sort of petted it and hemmed and hawed around it for awhile before finally – and sadly – walking away (see: “we don’t need chairs,” above). But then I thought about them for a solid 24 hours, which is a very good sign (and something I always try to do before buying anything big). And so I returned the next day (the moment the store opened because I was so nervous that someone else with a hide chair fixation might have taken them home), cash in hand (because price negotiations always work way better when you do them with cash).
I was only planning to buy one as an accent chair, but when I found out that the store owner had a pair (both in perfect condition)…
couldn’t help it. Bought ’em both.
Our couch was our first piece of grown-up furniture (meaning furniture that had not been previously owned by anyone in our immediate family, a neighbor, or a Salvation Army donor)…and these are our first pieces of grown-up furniture that weren’t purchased because we needed them, but rather just because we saw in them something of the home we’d like to create, both now and in our future.
I love them love them love them, and love that studded, hairy chairs have now set the home decor style bar in our house, paving the way for far more madness to come.
P.S. There is a matching ottoman that I didn’t buy because my dogs would have immediately adopted it as one of their own, but you can give the store owner, Colin, a ring at (845) 358-2565 if you, too feel the need for fuzzy furniture in your life.
