Friday, May 16, 2014

Raising the Bar

Sometimes things can be DIY'd and sometimes they can't. This unfortunately is the story of a time where we had to replace rather than refurbish.

We like our kitchen. We really love our cabinets and we end up spending every evening in there because with just Scott and I, it's easier to cozy up to our little bar area and watch Big Bang Theory on the TV above the fridge rather than sit at our giant dining table by ourselves (don't worry, the dining table is used often enough to make up for it). Because of this, we use our bar stools a lot. They aren't just there for decoration.


Unfortunately, they are used so often that they had started showing their age. We had tightened bolts and recovered the cushions, but they were still rickety and squeaky. They did not inspire confidence in even the tiniest of sitting persons. To make matters worse, they swayed a little when you sat on them, which led people to (not necessarily on purpose) start rocking themselves on them. This, in turn, would loosen the bolts more. The cycle continued.

They were also pretty ugly

The first thing that always crosses my mind is 'How can I make this better and spend the least amount of money' or 'Can I DIY a solution that will create a really unique result?'. In most cases, these questions are answered by me setting up camp in the garage with a drill, some wood, and a can of spray paint. In this instance, though, I knew that I didn't have the experience to build something that would last, it wouldn't be as cost effective in the long run to try to DIY something, and the metal on the existing stools was so warped that I couldn't fix what we had.

With a heavy heart, I closed my garage door and opened my laptop. I searched sites such as Overstock, Wayfair, Amazon, Target, Walmart,and even Meijer to try to find a cost effective solution for two bar stools. I actually ended up at Garden Ridge here in town. They had some that fulfilled our checklist of items:

+Modern to Mid-Century Styled
+Around $100 for two
+Durable, easy to clean, with good reviews
+Either 25 inches or height adjustable
+Ability to swivel
+Comfortable for us to eat dinner at almost every night

We ended up with these.


And they have been wonderful!

They match the kitchen like they were supposed to be there the whole time. They really look sleek with the chrome (which is also easy to wipe down). The white pleather seats are padded just enough to keep your behind from falling asleep, but is low profile and keeps the stools light weight. They were $60 each, which means that they exceeded our original budget for them by around $20, but the selection for anything below $100 for two was either uncomfortable or low quality. We couldn't be more pleased.


They really make the kitchen feel more adult and established, but maybe that's just me. Sometimes splurging on an item you are going to use often really helps anchor and entire room.

Don't worry if this doesn't fulfill your want for my normally destructive nature, though. If you check out this picture, you might see something missing.


Can you tell?


It was an exploratory mission! And it showed a lot of adhesive, some old laminate flooring, and a subfloor that is in really good shape. We aren't thinking of redoing the floor soon, but we needed to know what we were dealing with before we even considered purchasing anything. I just know I'm tired of a floor you can take a tile out of, expose a disgusting subfloor, and no one really notices unless they look closely.

For now, though, we're just happy with our new stools. Leela also seems pretty pleased.


I have two other projects that you should keep your eyes out for this weekend! One might be a flop, but the other is not! Happy Friday!

1 comment:

  1. Your mixer needs white racing stripes!
    Dad

    ReplyDelete