Beach cottage-chic Ivar chairs

Materials: Ivar chairs, wood stain, polyurethane finish, jute twine, large tapestry needle

Description: At a local furniture outlet, we snagged a large, clean-lined dining table in a dark-stained wood, but it didn’t come with chairs. After looking at many (rather expensive) chair options, we decided to get six Ivar chairs and customize them to fit our needs.

First, we used a dark wood stain and several coats of polyurethane to refinish all the chairs to match the table. Then, to lighten the overall look and add a bit of beachy flair (we live near the Connecticut shoreline), we wrapped each rung of the chair with jute twine from a craft store, hiding the end of the twine under the wrapping at the beginning and weaving the ends in with a tapestry needle at the end. The result is a very inexpensive set of chairs that perfectly complements the table.

~ Suma CM, Stamford, CT, USA