213 Gardenia, Part 2: The Dave Chair

This story goes back to a long time ago, waaaaay back when. Carlton was still in college at UGA and his BFF/roommate Dave was preparing to move out of the condo after he'd graduated. Maybe it was laziness, maybe it was the tired I-give-up attitude we all get when we're moving, maybe it was because he had a brown set just like it, or maybe it was a little parting gift: Dave left a black leather chair and ottoman with Carlton.

I was super psyched--not because I wanted Dave to go, because I was really sad about that--but because I absolutely loved the chair and ottoman set! They were black leather with a beautiful curved back side made of wood that just about wrapped around you. The chair and ottoman both sat atop chrome legs that just finished the total look.

Well, as most of us know, Carlton's UGA college years were over in a flash--only 6 years, and that guy was outta there! Not too much time passed and the epic Athens condo was sold. And--really bad news for Trisha--her favorite chair and ottoman combo were gone with it. They never got moved out before the condo belonged to someone else!

I obsessed over the chair and whined and pined away for the chair. I knew it just wasn't in my future to own a chair like this. Why? Well, because it's the famous Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman and the starting price on the set is about $5,000.00. That's five thousand dollars if you can't read zeros very well. I studied this furniture designer in college as an interior design student. Eames is a really big deal! And what made matters even worse was the fact that this chair is in just about any commercial or television show you will see... ever!!! The chair was speaking to me from the grave and there was nothing I could do about it. I secretly hoped that the scratch-off lotto tickets we got as a little $15 gift at Christmastime would win us the money to buy one. And that didn't happen! How rude.

Then Carlton got sick of listening to me whine and whimper about the freakin' chair. He shopped around online for a few weeks and revealed an excellent discovery: they make knock-offs! Duuuuuuh, Trisha. This meant I didn't have to resort to buying a ghetto ripped-up original on Ebay and pay tons to have it reupholstered in top grain leather and then attempt to find an ottoman to go with it. I could have a new one for a tiny fraction of the cost!

I have a new favorite corner in our living room: The Dave Chair is so comfortable to curl up in and watch TV. It just wraps around you and hugs you all over! The leather gets warm once you're settled in. The wood wraps around the back of the chair flawlessly and beautifully, and the legs shine so bright with their perfect chrome finish.

The Dave Chair is accented by a retro two-tier table with beautiful exposed dovetail details all the way around the edges and metal peg legs. I found the wooden lamp at WalMart as well as the ecru colored shade. The shade didn't really stand out against the color of our walls very well, and it seemed kinda blah next to the strong black statement chair, so I hot glued some black grosgrain around the top and bottom which finished it beautifully (I saw the idea in someone's blog once a while back... was it yourse?). The frames on the wall are also from WalMart, though the pictures to fill them are (hopefully) still waiting for me to pick them up from CVS. The green cracked glass candle sconces are from Pier 1 and were only $6 each! The Dave Chair is what makes this my new favorite corner in the living room.