Please Take a Seat…

There are 13 chairs in my garage. The space accommodates our two cars, but doubles as a rescue shelter for chairs. I take in unwanted, discarded chairs. I also buy chairs at garage sales.

It started several years ago when I brought a chair home from Ohio State. The building I worked in was being demolished, and when the area was cleared, a chair was left. It was a really cool fifties-looking wooden lab chair. I refinished it with some swimming-pool blue paint and sold it at a garage sale. I realized quickly that I can acquire chairs cheaply or for free, they provide an interesting moment in design time, and they aren’t a huge project to refinish. So, I have thirteen chairs in my garage waiting for attention. My husband supports my habit, but isn’t really thrilled when the stock builds up like this.

Covid 19 has changed almost everything. I used to work full time, now I don’t. Our family loved to eat out, now I cook a whole lot or we get take-out. We used to travel quite a bit, but now we stay home. My story is no different than so many people adjusting to different lives. However, for some, the adjustments come with hardship. I’m thinking about the restaurant industry workers. We used to eat out about twice a week, and when I hear how food service employees are without their normal income, it breaks my heart.

Recently I subscribed to Columbus Navigator. One of the first stories I read was how the Ohio Restaurant Association has created a fund to help workers. The Ohio Restaurant Employee Relief Fund was established by the Ohio Restaurant Association Education Foundation to help food service employees impacted by Covid 19. The goal is to reach $30,000 in donations by the end of September.

As I was reading the article, I was thinking about idle, empty chairs at restaurants and bars, and the light bulb went on!

I have a garage filled with empty, idle chairs.

What if I make them useful again?

And what if I could use the chairs to make some money to donate to the restaurant relief fund? It seems like a winning proposition all of the way around. I\’m not working, so I need a project to feel useful. I can make a few dollars to help people I care about. Hopefully, I can make other people aware of the fund so they can donate. And last, but certainly, not least, I\’ll see a smile on my husband\’s face each time a chair leaves the garage!

So, Please Take a Seat…As I refinish chairs, I will be listing them on Etsy. If a chair sells, I will donate half of the purchase price to the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. The light blue chair pictured is listed now. Shop CiasGarden at Etsy:

If you would like to donate to the Ohio Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, go to: ohiorestaurantsrelief.org.