CLUB CHAIRS

Dogs and Chesterfields, better combination than cats and club chairs.

I've always had a soft spot for old club chairs and Chesterfield couches. Something about them just lures you in for hours, like a throne, and makes you want to throw on a pair of velvet slippers and perhaps a mustache just long enough to twirl while sipping rare scotch.  I have nowhere near enough room in my apartment for a grand, long Chesterfield, though I dream that one day it will be the centerpiece of my future living room. In the mean time I've acquired two fine club chairs.

This one used to be in the house I grew up in. When my dad moved out this summer, everything went to storage.  He happily let me go choose anything I needed, which clearly included this club chair.  I have no idea how old it is, but I can tell you that it aged a hell of a lot faster than it should have at our house. We had quite a few cats growing up: Cuddles (ran away), Tiger (eaten by coyote), Max (eaten by coyote), Minette (freaked out and disappeared), Butterscotch (died of diabetes), Rocky (badass got killed in a fight with a skunk. The skunk died too), and Spuzzy, Bunny, and Muffin, all still cool kitties.
We tried to distract them with fancy scratch towers and fountain water dispensers, but no, somehow the cats always ignored that and decided to rid their tensions on the ancient leather chairs and silk drapes. Here is the result. I still love how tattered it is:

The second chair I got at the Rose Bowl flea market. I lifted up the cushion and saw a Ralph Lauren Home tag and wasn't going to even bother asking the price, assuming I wouldn't have enough cash left for it anyway. When the dude told me it was $150 I just could not leave without it. I had no idea where to fit this huge ass chair (4 x 3.5 ft) in my tiny place. I needed three people to carry it from my truck to the apartment, and I just wish we had filmed us trying to get it through the door. I managed to make it work out after a little rearranging.

I also took a cue from my dad, who, on the other chair, covered what remained of the cushions with awesome vintage Suzanis. I got a few more Kilim rugs from storage (score!) and draped one over the faux suede cushions, giving it a lot more character in my opinion.  I recently looked up the average price of one of these chairs on Ralph Lauren Home and started laughing out loud when I saw the prices for similar chairs, ranging from $5,000-8,000 (double score!!)

 

 A few more to dream about...