The Sitting Chair

I’m writing this blog post from the comfortable confines of the newest addition the Mansfield crib: a brand new leather recliner which sits in the corner of our family room (or should I say only room).

The story of this recliner can be traced back for years, as this is how long I’ve had my eye on getting a chair such as this.  With just about every trip to Pottery Barn, World Market, or even Target I’d somehow find my way to one of these leather chairs and test them out wishfully for comfort and style.  Yet in our quaint NYC apartment it seemed that another piece of furniture would be too much.

But then we purchased our Christmas tree this year and after some careful consideration, we decided to move our “kitchen” table from it usual place in the corner to make room for the frasier fir.  During the Christmas season we fell in love with the new spot for the table, so when we took down our tree we left the room in place and decided to look for a chair.

Last weekend we did some Internet store sleuthing and after searching through most of the stores we found a great option at World Market.  We decided to sleep on it before pulling the trigger, only to find out on Monday that the chair was sold out online.  Yet we were not deterred and found one in store in Greensboro.  We asked my parents if they’d be willing to pick it up so we could ship it to NYC (as the store was not willing to ship to us directly). Not only were they willing, my dad even took his new Flip video camera into the store so we could see the chair before buying it!

While not excited about paying for shipping, we were happy with our choice since we had scored a decent deal on the chair.  Yet, the funny part is that the chair I sit in right now is not the one we found at World Market.

Rather, we were casually looking on Craigslist today and decided to search one more time for a chair (a search we had performed no less than 20 times over the last couple weeks). To our surprise, there was a great chair that looked very similar to the World Market option - only it was offered at a better price and was only 10 blocks away from our apartment!

We made our way across town and found the chair to be as good in person as pictured online and decided to buy it.  The couple who was selling the chair is expecting their 2nd child in about 3 weeks, and needed to clear as much space as possible in their 1 bedroom apartment.  The previous owner helped us to get the chair downstairs from his apartment, though not without a little drama.  As we attempted to get the chair through the door, it knocked over a clay vase that was holding some umbrellas, leaving shattered pieces everywhere.  We felt horrible, but the sellers were very kind and told us not to worry about it since they should have moved it out of the way.

We were concerned about how to get the chair home, as there was no way we were going to be able to carry it 10 blocks.  Luckily, it ended up being just the right size to fit in the back of a “van cab” and we were able to quickly make it home.  After a little trouble in our building elevator, we were able to get the chair upstairs with the aid of one of our neighbors.

So two hours after fortuitously seeing the chair on Craigslist it was safe and sound in our apartment and ready for a long afternoon of football and reading - a test which is passed with flying colors!  We’re so thankful that my parents were willing to help us out in getting the “original” chair and feel bad that we have to inconvenience them by taking it back, but it feels great to know that we not only fulfilled a wish with the new chair but saved quite a few bucks along the way!