Thrifty Thursday: Chairs or Benches?

Back in late fall of 2000, we got married.   With our wedding money we bought this beautiful oak dining room table along with a matching beautiful oak china hutch.   

I cherish these two pieces of furniture as it's the first thing we bought as a married couple.  We also bought the four coordinating chairs to go with the table.  Since we were already a family of 3 and it wasn't long before we became a family of 4, we never thought that we would become a family of 6.

Then this sweet little gem surprised us in 2002,  

and flash forward to 2005 when we officially became a family of 6.

I can't stop staring at our adorable babies.  I miss them at those ages.  Okay, focus, back to our seating issue...we only had seating for....4.   Now, we did have one child in a high chair and one that was a mere few weeks old.  (That little guy above us)  So this still wasn't a major issue.  It's when that final little one finally grew into the highchair and then outgrew the high chair that our problem really began.

Flash forward again to 2008-current.  Two of our poor children have been sitting at the dinner table using two hideous card table chairs.  Fold away, card table chairs.  I mean, it's not like they were sitting on the floor, but still, these were gross and icky and more importantly, they didn't match the table and its whole set.

I have been searching for years and years and years on finding 2 coordinating chairs that would work for our table.  I even contacted the manufacturer of the dining set and it was a no-go.  Sadly, they didn't make that style anymore.  My poor mother had even been searching with me, helping me look for chairs for this table.  She was always my ear when I was brainstorming ideas.   Do I make a bench?   Do I buy a settee?   What would look good, but be easy to clean, and match our dining set at the same time?  How about?  What about that?  With the help of my mom on a decision, we I finally decided that I would build a bench, but I just couldn't get The Mister 100% on board.  He just wasn't sure that look would look right with the style of the table or our house.

Now, let's back up to two weekends ago.   The girls and I were driving to exchange a Christmas gift and I told them I would like to stop into one of the Goodwill's on the way.  Just to look. You can only imagine my enthusiasm and excitement when I saw these 2 matching beauts!  With a quick snap of my camera on my phone and a text to The Mister for his opinion, it was in moments that these babies were in the parking lot and the back of my car.

I mean seriously.  Tall backs.  Neutral color.  The fact that THEY were a matching set.  The right height when you sit down.  And they would work with our current set, at the head of the table on either end, as accent chairs.  Do you want to know the absolute best part?  They were only....$14...EACH!!   People!! $28 for 2 chairs, that I swear I have been searching for, for at least 10 years!  Well maybe only 8, but still that is eons!!!

I do plan on reupholstering them so that all six of the chairs will look like a more cohesive unit.  But at this point, I'm so excited that my children are not sitting on card table chairs, I'm screaming it from my rooftop.  Not really, but I did call my mom all super excited.  :)  And I may have texted my best friend a few times about my excitement.  And I may have Instagrammed it too.  

Don't they look great?  I'm thinking maybe some nail heads down the back of the chairs to give it some character, what do you think?

Well, I'm off....to Fabric Depot, to find the perfect fabric to reupholster these chairs.   Can't wait to show you when when they are done!