Dining Room Chair Re-do and Gratuitous Baby Pictures

A couple of years ago, I inherited my grandparents' dining room set.  Actually, it first belonged to my great-grandparents and my dad knew it in his childhood.  

Objects which hold childhood memories for two of the most sentimental people I know?  This set is practically a holy relic.

Unfortunately, when it came to us, the upholstery was already a holey relic.

(See what I did there?)

I remember the upholstery as being some sort of late-60s geometric pattern of green plush on a white background, but whether or not that is accurate, someone older and wiser will have to say.  

Some time in the intervening decades, my grandparents re-covered the chairs in white.  How impractical, right?  

So, by the time they came to us, the seats were already stained and ratty around the edges.  My kids contributed to the ensuing carnage until they were in considerable dishabille.  

(The chair covers, not the kids.  Well...them too.)

It has long been my intention to re-cover the chairs and to, of course, choose a darker, more stain-friendly pattern, especially since we use these every day (now that I have a real dining room!  Hooray!).

So, on Monday I braved the MLK, Jr.-day-off crowd and went to JoAnn Fabrics to pick new upholstery.  

And then, despite my best intentions, I came across this metalasse fabric and I had to have it.  Plus, it was half off so it was practically begging me to buy it!

Even whiter than the last white chair covering.

Hysterically impractical, I know.  You don't have to tell me.  

But they're so pretty! 

Yes, I'm saying that in a wistful voice because I know they won't stay this pristine for long.  And that's okay, I'm raising kids not preserving pristine upholstery. 

The corners still look clunky to me, but the thicker material made them ill-behaved.  I'm sure it's not because I don't know what I'm doing.  

I obsessed over them for a few hours and then just went with imperfection.  Tell me you didn't even notice and now that you do they look great, and no one will get hurt.

The kids have already been warned not to go near one of these chairs unless there is a towel over it.

I WILL be making some more practical covers to go over the pure white, so perhaps it will last long enough for me to have a couple of grown-up dinner parties on the white.  

Now, to distract you from shaking your head at me and my folly, here are some pictures of pretty much the cutest baby in the world.

Born to be queen!

Warming up to the camera.

Playing coy.

Oh, yeah, baby!

What's that?  I'm adorable?

Now who's shy?