The lovely old house on a rise overlooking the beach had a large and largely unexplored loft. An exciting place, but one that was also a little odd. A new owner and an almost totally neglected loft suggested that surprises were in store for someone with a sense of adventure.

So what secrets did the loft hold? Well, now we know – furniture from days gone by, chairs for the most part. Good-to-have chairs, battered-and-broken chairs, out-of-style chairs, extra chairs, inherited chairs, children’s chairs. And somewhere in among them all, this rather unremarkable pair of chairs from the previous century. They had presumably fallen out of favour because of their worn-out seats. Now that we’re familiar with the happy ending to this tale, maybe we can convince ourselves they were simply being stored there in hope of better times.

The new owner of the house was a creative, artistic woman who knew a thing or two about old furniture. So new seats were fashioned from a suitable material (plywood) that enabled her to decorate them with painted swirls of flowers and leaves. The two “stick-back” chairs could never have dreamed of anything more wonderful. What a joy! A real facelift was how one of them described it to the other in a voice quivering with emotion.

 

After all those years amid the dust and cobwebs of the dreary old loft, they have now made the journey down the stairs and into the light. In the guest rooms where they now have permanent pride of place, they are everyone’s favourites and the natural topic of conversation for visitors.

It’s a wonderful story – and a true one, too.

By Gun Bjerkander Handberg

 

 

 

Note from the editor:

INTERESTED IN CHAIRS AND THEIR TALES?

We might have the perfect book series for you.

“Please Be Seated – Historic Chairs and The Tales They Tell” and “Please Be Seated – More Historic Chairs” are two charming little books, each with 17 chapters recounting tales of famous and not-so-famous chairs.  Both books are written by author Gun Bjerkander Handberg, published by Vind & Våg publishing House and are available online and to order at all good bookstores.

ISBN: 978-0-9927084-7-4

ISBN: 978-0-9927084-8-1