Chairs in my life

At Home

The funny thing about living in a shared house is how many chairs we accumulate. Housemates move in, bring chairs, and often leave some behind.

Dining room chairs

Cranz noted the power dynamics at play with various chairs. This is definitely true of the dining room chairs. The white wooden ones are squeaky and falling apart—my roommates avoid them unless they are the last ones left. The ones with the carpeted seats are stout and solid. They are the preferred chair.

Bar stool chairs

Like our dining room table, there are two different chair styles at the counter. The placement is indicative of their use – the wicker chairs on the left hardly get any use. When I sit in them, I feel short and insignificant. The black chairs sit taller and place you at a near parity in height with a person standing upright in the kitchen. It makes you feel like peers when having a conversation.

Living room couch

Guests either love our hate these couches. They either think it is very comfortable, or they detest that it is swallowing them up. These couches afford being a couch-potato. Their deep cushions and copious amount of fabric feels as if you’re laying in a bed in the living room. Great for TV marathons and lazy Sundays.

Outdoor couch

Frequently dusty and in disrepair, but pleasant for sunny afternoon reading and late-night reminiscing under the stars. By virtue of its placement on our porch, this sofa acts more like seat in the public space. You will both observe and be observed by the people on the street and the houses across the way.

Office chair

I have mixed feelings when I sit in this chair. It’s the most “professional” chair in the house and clearly communicates “office work” which is how I use it (I work from home). On the other hand, a few years ago, the corner was ripped while I was moving it, exposing the cheap yellow foam cushion underneath. When strangers see this chair I get self-conscious It looks like I’m a hard working professional from one angle, but if they see the rip will they think I’m too cheap to buy a proper office chair?

Piano chair (drummers seat)

This is the chair my parents bought me a few years into taking piano lessons as a kid. It is actually designed for a drummer – its design affords quickly swiveling around in a circular motion, not something you need to do when playing piano. This chair makes me feel good. It has a social aspect to it. When there are guests over, I find it easy to adjust where I am pointing myself to square up to whoever is speaking.

“The Throne”

The amazing thing about our downstairs toilet is that it is actually raised on two separate platforms. Guests comment on this without fail when they see it for the first time—placing the lowest form of a chair on a pedestal.

Out

Honda Civic chair

This “chair” is pure utility. There’s nothing luxurious about it but it gets the job done. The interesting thing about car seats as chairs is how often people use car seats as storage for their things (we don’t often stack stuff on chairs at home we use frequently). I tend to drive a lot of people around, so I like to keep the interior empty. People comment that for such an old car, I keep it clean. I think part of what they are noticing is that I’ve prioritized keeping the car seats able to be sat in.

Cloth cushion at local café

This is a “chair” of the people. It’s best not to think about how many people have sat in it, or when it was last washed.