$5 midcentury modern

oakland has a gem of a thrift shop called nifty thrifty. it was a legend when i lived here in 2004 and continues to be a hot spot for peeps in northeast nebraska. or it is for me anyway. i walk through every week or so to see if there are any vintage finds that catch my eye. on my last stroll, i spotted these midcentury beauties for five dollars a piece. sold.

they were made well [and in randolph, nebraska!], but we weren't digging the teal upholstry. it actually wasn't terrible, but i thought we needed to brighten it up a bit. 

i bought some subtle polka dot fabric from hobby lobby [on sale!] and got to work. changing the fabric on a chair must be one of the easiest upgrades for well loved furniture. 

jane and i simply unscrewed the padded seat, stapled the fabric taut and screwed it back into place. this project took about fifteen minutes and dollars [including $10 for the chairs.]. we might decide to paint them one day, but right now we are very happy to have six cheap and functional seats at our table.

so this is where we are at with the dining room. we still need to hang a light fixture [on backorder], art, and a window treatment. we need to purchase a rug and a credenza. we need to retile the fireplace. we need to sand and stain the table.

 so there's still a lot on the list. but, we started here:

 and that's something we can be happy about.