the full story of the thrift store cane chair
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there have been some epic finds at Flamingo Plaza (hello, Dior and DVF for under five bucks), but then there have been some EPIC finds at the thrift store. Usually, those are the ones that take on a life of their own beyond how you find them and they end up costing you more than double what you paid for it, but are very worth it.
Exibit A: the thrift store cane chair.
I found it for a negotiated price of $25, which is thrift store expensive, but I knew by the bones I had to have it. It was quickly discovered by the smell that I would have to do something about it. These chairs (there are two of them) must have been someone's daily smoking chairs because they smelled like fifty years of Marlboro Reds exhaled directly into the fabric.
Luckily, my boyfriend's Cuban grandmother has a tapiceria that she trusts and if you can earn the trust of someone as totally glamorous as she is, you'll definitely be good enough for my $25 chairs. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the upholstery place, but I'm working on it and will get back to you. It was in the Bird Road Art District.
We picked the fabric from a store across the street, a white canvas that felt just modern enough to elevate the chairs into 2013 and just classic enouh that it wouldn't clash with the very traditional vibe of the chairs.
Our guy replaced all the fabric on the chairs and built us brand new cushions with a piping that matched the fabric, just like the old cushions had and it cost us about $100 per cushion. I'm not telling you this is the cheapest DIY project you've ever seen (because it's not a DIY project, but when I looked into that and got stuck in the internet vortex of crazy people cutting upholstery foam - I decided this was one for the pros), but I will tell you it was a gratifying one.
When the movers delivered my chairs into my new house, a 1948 Coral Gables 2/1, I literally teared up. Yes, I'm crazy, and yes, they're so perfect for the Cuban bohemian boutique hotel vibe that we're going for. I told you I was crazy.
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