The relationship began at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Detroit in 1999. Anne Saad was 15-years-old when a midcentury modern gem caught her eye. An angsty teen looking for a refuge, she bought a classic gold chair for five dollars and hauled it home to her room.
“I wanted a special space in my room, and I bought it for that. I would just sit in it and listen to music and just hang out. It was my own special little thing that I bought with my own money from my own job. I had it all throughout high school. And when I was 18, I moved out to college, and I took my chair with me. I moved seven times in college. So, every time I moved, in the back of my car, it was my chair.”
Anne’s well-loved chair, before…
For 27 years and counting, it has more than given back in the comfort and joy it has brought to her and, now her family. With its welcoming arms, it has been a soothing constant through life’s twists and turns.
“It went through college parties. It went through house parties. It went through COVID and pregnancy and growing up.” It has literally held Anne during some of the tenderest and most meaningful times of her life.
“After college, I got my first apartment, moved in with my boyfriend, now husband,” she recalled. All through that time, “I had my chair. It has survived three cross country moves.” It survived navigating her teen years, her college years, and professional life. “And then, getting married and starting a family and then seeing it with my dog and my kid,” she explained.
Part of the Nursery
“We got pregnant during COVID, and I made it part of my nursery too, because I was like, this is my chair. This is where I'm most comfortable. It became my breastfeeding chair; it was the perfect size to prop your baby up. So anytime he needed to be soothed, I needed to sit there with my chair.”
When asked what emotions she associates with the chair, Anne immediately says cozy or “hygge.” Hygge “is a big word for our family. My husband is Swedish. It's a big warm hug,” she continues. “When you need it, it's there. When you have a bad day, you sit in the chair.”
The chair being enjoyed by her son & a friend
Love Letter to Yourself
As Anne’s son grew and ventured—bit-by-bit—from the safe haven of his parents’ arms, the chair remained a refuge. “So, it's kind of silly,” she said, “on the second or third Christmas, we actually have a picture of him and his best friend, laying back in the chair with big smiles on their faces.”
“I thought that was a full circle moment when it became a centerpiece in our main living room in our old house where the boys started to play on the chair and it became their thing.” It was during the constant use of the chair after her son was born, and as he grew into a toddler and young child that Anne says the chair was “completely destroyed.”
As she began thinking about having the chair refurbished, her husband encouraged her. “This chair is like a love letter to yourself,” he told her. “This is the fabric of you.” Once she turned her attention to giving the chair a makeover, she stumbled on Furniture Repair Bank (FRB).
Reviving a Beloved Piece
“What's funny,” she said, “is the Junior League, which I have been a part of and participated with did a service shift with y'all (FRB). And they had so much fun there!” After hearing that, Anne reached out to our staff to inquire about refurbishing the chair. We were happy to help restore it. In fact, Anne’s beloved chair became FRB’s first commissioned work.
“I wish I could scream from the mountaintops, how amazing your organization is, and how wonderful it was working with all of you…. The people that were doing the work and the volunteers seem to have as much joy and love for this random physical item [as I do].” The time the team took to “teach me about fabric—I had no idea. The team just really showed that they truly cared.”
The refreshed chair in a fabulous deep green
Mid-Century Modern Hygge
Not long before Anne brought the chair to us, her family moved to Olympic Manor. “This is the perfect mid-century modern, swanky lounge. I was joking with some of the ladies at the Repair Bank that the chair had to glow up, and then she went to college and studied abroad. Now she lives in this beautiful, sophisticated space where it's like we went from angsty teenager to mid-century modern paradise.”
As Anne’s son has grown, it has become his chair, too. Ellie, the family dog, also claimed it for regular naps and was delighted to have it returned when the rehab work was done!
Stories Furniture Tells
“Some people say it's materialistic to put value on physical pieces, but to me, it's more about the things telling a story in your home and the things that you truly value. We all have those special blankets, right? We all have that set of dishes for decoration that we cherish. I think that furniture should be considered in a part of that, where to me, it's not just a toss away item. It's something that's enduring that tells your story, too.”
Do you have an item that tells your story and needs a little TLC? Visit our restoration services page to submit a quote request!
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