The Catbird Seat

I just love chairs. I can’t help it. I guess the easiest explanation is, “Preference is irrational.”

I can’t tell you how many times Paul and I have been shopping for various pieces of furniture, and we have to have a meeting of the minds before we enter the store. Here’s the scene from the car:

“Okay, now you do understand we’re not here to buy a chair.”
“Yes.”
“Which means that we don’t need to linger over chairs that you like in the store.”
“Yes.”
“It would be a waste of our time for you to sit in and look at chairs. We’re here to buy a dresser.”
“Well, it wouldn’t hurt just to look.”
“We don’t need any more chairs. We don’t have the space for the chairs we have.”
“I know.”
“Okay, so we’re on the same page, right? Dressers. We’re here to look at dressers.”
“Yes. Dressers. Got it!”

We walk in the store, and I make a bee-line for the nearest cool chair. It’s a sickness.

I don’t know where or when I developed this love for chairs. I DO remember very early-on distinctly loving the silver/pearlescent gray velour (or something like it; it was kinda like crushed velvet) upholstered chair in the living room of my childhood. I grieved when, shortly after Mom’s death, we got rid of it. It was old and needed to go, too. I loved that chair, though, and just didn’t want to say goodbye to it.

I love the design of chairs. It doesn’t even matter what kind. Upholstered, ladder back, folding, armchair, dining chair, etc. I like them all. I like the ones that are ergonomically designed, and I like the ones that don’t at all fit the human body, but just look cool. I like surfing the Web for images of chairs that look cool, funky or interesting. That’s why I have a “Chair of the Week” page here on The Catbird Seat. I like chairs of historical, artistic or architectural importance. I also love photographs of chairs, particularly if it is of an arrangement of multiple chairs. (see Order is Joy)

[It’s no accident that’s the title of my blog, by the way. The Catbird Seat is not only a rip from James Thurber’s short story, in my mind it’s the terribly uncomfortable office chair that I sit in to blog every night. Its uncomfortabiliy is exceeded only by its ugliness and unoriginal design. But that’s a story for another time.]

Just to give you an idea of my love for chairs, I counted how many chairs we have in our house. Twenty-three. No, twenty-five. I forgot about the 2 dining chairs in the garage. Oh wait, no 27, including the barstools. Oh, and then there’s the terrible office chair. Okay, so that’s twenty-eight. Oh, and then there’s the highchair. Does that count? So, 29 it is. 29. Wow, that’s a lot of chairs. Especially for a 3/2 with less than 1400 square feet.

Here’s the list:
8 dining table chairs (that I desperately want to re-cover)
2 Scandinavian low-slung chairs in the living room (from the 1960’s no less; they were my parents’ and they’re cool.),
2 ebony-stained barstools (with no backs, and a wide seat. love it.)
1 office chair (ugh.)
1 cherry-stained glider in E’s room (made by an Amish colony in PA)
2 black cafe’ table chairs on my patio
1 terry-covered vanity bench (very cheap and poorly made)
1 olive-green upholstered armchair in J’s room (my very favorite)
4 black vinyl and chrome card table chairs (with matching table; a flea market find)
4 wooden folding chairs (vintage, I think)
2 dining table chairs (in my garage; they belong with a set my sister has)
1 high chair (bought at a yard sale for $3)

So that’s the list. 29 chairs. That’s bad. What’s worse is that I had a beautiful cherry rocking chair from Storehouse and a VERY COOL black leather captain’s chair on a silver base that we had to jettison when we moved to Orlando because of limited room. It was a sad day, parting with those chairs. As if we needed them. (lol.)

At least when we have company, everyone can find a chair to sit in. Ironically, a lot of our friends wind up sitting in the floor. Maybe it’s because half the chairs are in the garage. (grin)

I just love chairs. That pretty much sums it up, I’d say.

Filed under: General, Catbird, Random Thoughts on February 21st, 2006