Sitting in style

My husband donated his battered old recliner to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore the other day to make room for a new chair, and he brought back a receipt acknowledging our donation of  "one wingback chair--good condition."

Ha! If that chair had been in good condition, we would have kept it or given it to a loved one, but we got rid of it because its condition had become unbearable, bordering on dangerous. It wobbled and released little clouds of rotting cushion dust every time anyone sat down in it. The upholstery was so worn and faded that we usually kept it covered with a big black towel, and the chair was a magnet for the grandkids, who were always pushing it back in a way that made it look like someone was going to get squished in the works.

That chair was only 13 years old but it was chintzy to begin with and it's been in nearly constant use. You want to see a recliner in good condition? Go downstairs and take a look at the gigantic green leather Lazy-Boy we've had for something like 20 years: it's as sturdy as it ever was and doesn't show a single sign of wear. But that battered blue wingback? "Good" is not the word.

The new chair is a delight: sturdy, attractive, comfortable, and more difficult to recline so that it will resist the grandchildren's machinations until they're considerably older. It arrived right on time too, although the delivery guys gave themselves plenty of leeway by predicting that they'd arrive "between 1 and 5." (Good thing I didn't need to go anywhere yesterday!) The important thing was that it arrived in time for my husband's birthday, so he'll be able to enjoy his special day on a special chair, if I can get him to stop chopping wood long enough to sit down.

I hope someone gets some use out of our old chair, but if they're expecting something in good condition, they're bound to be disappointed. And I hope we'll be enjoying our new chair for many years to come, because this time we paid for quality.If it's still in good condition 13 years from now, Habitat will have to look elsewhere for its donations.