Dining Room Chair Saga Part I: Finding Chairs

I mentioned way back that we were not going to keep our original dining room chairs (seen below) and were in search of some new ones. I've been wanting to write about the chairs for so long but it has taken 4 (yes four) months to actually resolve the chair situation.

One of the benefits of having an open concept first floor is being able to see from the kitchen to living room. Unfortunately, our high back chairs were doing a good job blocking that view, especially if Will was sitting on the floor in the living room. So, we were in search of lower chairs that were easy to clean (aka not fabric). 

Now there are certain things in life that I just don't understand the cost behind. Dining room chairs are on that list (as well as clocks, pillow covers and lamp shades). There was basically no way I was paying hundreds of dollars for a single chair especially for the modern, low profile design we wanted (aka less materials but tends to be really pricy?). We also wanted quite a few chairs so that we would have enough for when we expanded the table and my goal was to get a minimum of 10 chairs for under $500. 

I technically succeeded and exceeded this goal, getting 12 chairs for just under $350. Six I found in the scratch and dent section of Ikea because they were the floor model and had scuff marks on them. They are the Erland chair that are $59 new and I got them for $27 each. If I had gone the day before I would have been able to get a few more but they were snatched up fast and so there were only 6 left when I took a peak. They were exactly what I was looking for... low profile, modern and wipeable! I grabbed all 6, took them home and used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove all the scuff marks... good as new.

Six is not ten though... which was kind of good. While I love the chairs (bonus: they are super comfortable) they are a little on the wide side so three right next to each other don't push all the way in. Enter chair #2. I happened to click over to Restoration Hardware for a reason I don't remember and decided to check out their chair situation. They were having an amazing chair sale and I ended up snagging six Forma Painted Chairs for $29 a chair (originally $89). They are thinner and more curvy than the Ikea chairs and I love the combination (plus the chairs all push in).

Unfortunately, my chair luck ran out at this point and despite ordering 6 chairs, in the end, I only have 5 (can you see the misfit above?). I'll go into the details tomorrow, but it's been a frustrating few months. Since we only need 12 chairs for big gatherings, on a day to day basis we don't miss the missing chair. 

However, if you are observant (and can do some math) you probably noticed that I said I have 12 chairs but clearly only have 11 dining chairs. So what is the last chair? Well you'll have to read our Restoration Hardware drama post tomorrow to find out!