My Second Hand Life

unday. Somehow for me the very name of that day conjures up pancake breakfasts, reading the paper in bed, long lazy naps while sunlight streams through the windows of a beach cottage I cannot possibly afford. The reality is often rude awakenings, hastily prepared bagels, the mad rush to make it to church on time, the deflated sense that no matter how early you got up somehow half the day gets wasted before it even starts. Screw that, I thought. At least I’ll make some progress on this chair.

My basement shop leaves much to be desired (namely space, lighting, space, organization, and… oh, a little more space please), so the kitchen would have to do. It’s well lit, spacious and close to the food.

First task is removing the four screws holding the back support on.

Then, on to the three (one missing) bolts for the seat.

I made a point to label the top of the back support in case I forget and something doesn’t fit right.

When my kids were just babies, Gerber started putting their baby food into these awesome little containers. I salvaged dozens of them out of the recycling bin, washed them up and stored them away for later use.

They’re ideal for small projects like this. Easily identifiable, stackable and reuseable.

Minimalist chair or pricey sculpture? I’ll call MoMA tomorrow and see if they’re buying.

I removed the screw handle from beneath the chair (can’t stand looking at that naked bolt on the back of the seat).

Either I’ll use it on the back of the chair or find something that works better with the color scheme I/she want. Now, off to the hell that is… THE FABRIC STORE!

ast night was tough. We had just finished dinner when a vicious thunderstorm broke out. Hail pelted the house like someone had shot ice cubes out of a slingshot. Torrents of rain and heavy wind followed soon after. We got the kids into bed just in time to have the lights die, briefly return then power go out completely. This was the first time that the kids were without their nighttime music and lighting so it took them a while (and some of Samurai Mom’s cuddling) to finally get them asleep. Power returned about five hours later, so visions of cooking massive amounts of rapidly thawing food quickly dwindled.

Today broke bright and clear, the storm having done much to clear out the stifling humidity. I was temporarily banned from grocery shopping (apparently, I call too often to make sure I’m getting the right thing or bring home the wrong thing by not calling) so my plans were open. Then I say, let’s go thrifting!

First, a stop at DnD. Not a tradition, but we usually get something before we grocery shop and Little Miss Headstrong already had her day planned around a Boston Creme.

Behold the Captain America doughnut. It’s says everything about America: loaded with fat, dripping with sugar and only vaguely patriotic.

Dad fuel. Zombies cannot live on brains alone.

Now juiced up with the power of fried dough and coffee, off we went to the thrift store. Sadly, there is only one locally that is worthy of viewing (the other is closer, but about the size of a postage stamp and relies heavily on women’s clothing). They were having a sale on chairs out front which is both good and bad (and worse): good in that you can score some great deal on chairs, bad in that it makes parking a bear and worse because I don’t need any more chairs no matter how cool or cheap they are. I did a quick walk around and noted about a half dozen that I would like to have (if I had the warehouse space of say, Cari Cucksey or even Goldman Sachs). The store recently moved into a DIY furniture store and someone made sure that everything, everything, now had a place. The old shop was a smattering of this and that, roughly corralled onto whatever available surfaces were available. Now, neat shelves and aisles were clearly labeled and made shopping a breeze. I found a nice percolator coffee pot (hoping to recreate this lamp one day) but it was in working condition and at $6 was above my shopping limit. We looked at everything else and started walking outside when I noticed this chair in the sale crowd:

Kid sized and reeking of AWESOME!

I’ve got a kid sized roll top desk that this would go perfect with, so I’m off to finish the desk now…