A Chair for Our 8 Year Old

I have a friend that offered me a beautiful desk for one of my girls.  With Addie's birthday coming up, and with her really wanting some furniture in her room (besides her bed), it was the perfect present in my mind.  I was so excited!  All the desk needed was for its paint to be touched up in a few spots,...

And it needed a CHAIR to go with it. 

Because the desk was delightfully antique looking and elegant, I wanted a chair that could match its color and its style.  I looked online, only to be sorely disappointed.  Furniture is SO EXPENSIVE!!!  I could not find anything that I thought was a true match for the desk, and I was not about to spend over double what I had spent on the desk (which was an amazing deal because of my sweet friend) on the chair.

Because of that, a project ensued!

First, I went to the Goodwill store to find a chair with sturdy bones that I thought (or just hoped) that I could refinish to be what I wanted.

This was it!  It had a weaved back with a hole in it covered by the material shown laying on the floor, and the absolute wrong colors for the desk.   So, it was perfect, because all that made it a whopping...

$5.99!  I could live with a starting price like that!  Then I could use the extra money on material (which I also found on that same thrift shopping trip for $3.99), paint, lace, and hardware pieces I would need.

I spent hours and hours tearing apart the chair and sanding off the old, to rebuild it into something new.

It became softer, cleaner, and more refined.

I felt like it finally belonged and was equal to being with the beautiful desk.

After pondering about it, I also feel that it was a wonderful present to give for Addie's 8 year old birthday, because the transformation of shedding off the old to become new and more refined is very symbolic of a commitment she would be making soon.  She, too, had the opportunity just 2 days later to be baptized, washing away the old, and becoming new through her Savior.

No doubt she will find hidden treasures from making that decision, just like she...

...found hidden treasures on her birthday morning inside every drawer of her desk;o)

Fun note ~ We set up her desk while she was sleeping, so that she would see it first thing on her birthday!  We set our alarm to try to wake up early enough to sneak and see her reaction.  We were just a couple minutes too late.  We heard something, went to her room, just to find her door shut.  Luckily, we got to hear her telling Lexi all about it, which was just as fun, listening to the two of them analyzing it up and down.  No surprise that Lexi now wants her own desk for her birthday.  We will see!!!