The Red Chair

 Way back when we lived in Delaware, about 15 years ago, I found a great big green chair while out jogging. We had a big-to-us house and not much furniture. I have never been a big fan of buying expensive furniture. Way back when we were still getting established with the first home we bought and our baby, free furniture was the way I wanted to go. So, this king-sized chair seemed perfect. It would take up a lot of room in our living room and work out just great!

Apparently, I never took a good picture of the green chair, but here's most of it.

We only had two sedans. An old Honda Accord and a new one, so we borrowed our next-door neighbor's van to go down the street and pick up this chair. On a side note, this next-door neighbor family happened to be members of the Church and the father was in the Bishopric (how random is that in Delaware to live next door to members of the Church?!) We didn't take out the last bench from the van and there wasn't much room to fit the chair even there, so I held onto the chair so it wouldn't fall out of the slightly open door of the van for the short drive down the street. One detail I don't remember is that if we strapped Victoria in her car seat in one of the many rows of the van, or the Christensens were babysitting her.... 

We were so excited to put it in our living room when we returned! It looked great! 

A few months later (maybe more, but not much because we only lived in Delaware for a year), we decided we were leaving the military, due to an unexpected opportunity to separate a little earlier. When we finally arrived in our condo in Michigan (many months later), I wanted to make a coverslip for this chair. I'm sure I wanted to do it beforehand, but time didn't allow for that, so once we got settled, that was my first project. My stepsister, Shelly, has a business covering furniture in Utah. She's awesome at it! I knew I would need help from her if my chair were to look presentable whatsoever. I called her up and we made a long-distance plan. She gave me tips on fabric, measurements, and pinning. I sent her pictures, measurements, and the fabric after I had pinned it, and a small work fee. She sent it back and you would not believe how perfect it looked! I worked out so well! We loved our red chair! It became a favorite play place and sitting place. It was also the chair our kids usually sat in to open birthday presents. I could take the cover off and wash it any time I wanted and put it back on with ease. 

I could fit baby Karissa and Victoria together with plenty of room for Karissa's whole body to be on it, lying down.

First Valentine's day with the chair.

First of many forts created with the chair!

Our house now is on the smaller side, that's only because we have 6 of us, and no more little babies! For a couple of years now, I've wanted to replace the big chair with two smaller chairs so people can sit more comfortably in a chair of their own. This last Christmas, I received a bunch of gift cards from my very generous student's families to Target, totaling $100. I decided to use the money toward some cute chairs from Target. They are surprisingly supportive and comfortable, even though they're from Target, not your typical furniture store. Of course, they're very chic as well. 

Before, with the red chair...

Afterward!

Our red chair was taken by a sister who wanted it from our ward. She is single with an 8-year-old son. I think he will enjoy the fun bouncy chair and they can sit together in it if they want. 

We love our new chairs!