The dining area fireside sitting area just got a whole lot more comfortable with new chairs from Sixpenny! Today I am sharing all the details on my clean-lined new chairs!
Ready for Change
I decorated this home in Maine mostly from scratch. We brought a few pieces from our previous home in Maryland.
But, really, I wanted a fresh vibe for this new chapter of my life.
Some things were purchased for the house while it was still under construction. Working towards a vision I had in my mind.
And since then, I have slowly added pieces that I have found, mostly locally and mostly vintage or antique, that have filled in and rounded out my original vision.
At the same time, though, I have found that a few of the pieces I purchased originally don’t work for me anymore. Maybe my design vision for a space has gone in a bit of a different direction. Or they don’t fit in the way I imagined they would. Some things just haven’t turned out to be functional for life here.
I originally ordered a solid blue slipcover for the living room sofa. I decided within a year that I wanted something lighter and brighter. So now I alternate seasonally between a neutral color and white. That is the beauty of slipcovers!
Last fall I decided the upholstered ottoman I used as a coffee table in the living room needed to go. That was a hard one for me. I loved the beautiful blue and tan paisley fabric I chose for it specifically for Maine. Plus, this piece of furniture had lived with our family for many years. You can read all about the coffee table I replaced it with in my blog post My Facebook Marketplace Coffee Table Transformation.
And just last week new chairs arrived to replace the wicker ones next to the fireplace in the dining area.
Today I am sharing all the details on my clean-lined new Sixpenny chairs. They are exactly what I wanted for this space!
My Old Chairs
But first, let’s talk about my old wicker chairs.
The pros: I still love the look of these Serena and Lily chairs, with their curvy silhouette, neutral tone, and fabulous texture. Wicker has such a wonderful laid-back coastal feel when used inside. The chairs were hefty and well-made.
The cons: Unfortunately my cats also loved the texture of the wicker. They liked to use the back as a scratching post, and I couldn’t get them to stop.
The seat cushion was insubstantial to start, and only grew thinner as we sat on them over time. This made the seat a bit hard and uncomfortable to sit on for extended periods. Plus, the cushion wouldn’t stay in place and was constantly sliding forward off the seat.
For more comfort, I added a throw pillow to the back. This could be a nice decorative detail, but the combination of wicker, seat cushion, and pillow, made for a lot of visual activity in one piece of furniture.
And now that I have swapped out for “quieter” chairs, I realize that the wicker against the stone fireplace made for a “dueling texture” situation to my eye. This meant that neither feature had the opportunity to really shine.
Sixpenny
You can see that the cons far outweighed the pros, so, a while back, I started thinking about new chairs.
I certainly wouldn’t say I had a “chair emergency” on my hands. My wicker chairs were attractive (though a bit scratched up), fit the space, and were functional enough.
But I kept my eye out and did the occasional online search. This time I wanted to get it exactly right; I knew that I just needed to be patient.
Then starting last year, I started seeing some of my social media friends sharing their sofas and chairs from Sixpenny. They were a new company to me, but I was drawn to their current-but-classic aesthetic. Simple lines, beautiful cotton, linen, velvet, and recycled fabrics in a range of both fun colors and calming neutrals. Plus, all their pieces are slipcovered — easier to keep clean, with the option to swap covers seasonally.
I was definitely intrigued!
Then I learned that they have several styles of “soft” dining chairs — with seat and back cushions and a fully slipcovered frame. The exact the chair I was looking for.
I visited their website to learn more.
Sixpenny’s philosophy is that home ought to be “the most comfortable, personal, enriching space in your world.” And that furnishings should be made to “comfort you day in and day out, and to outlast years of scratching paws, impromptu guests and wine spills.”
This sounds pretty much like my philosophy too.
While Sixpenny generously gifted me the chairs, I also like that they keep prices down for the consumer by designing, sourcing, and manufacturing all their furniture directly.
I was sold!
My Chairs
My Sixpenny chairs arrived last week, and they are everything I hoped they would be! (And maybe more!)
I chose the Amelia Dining Chairs with feather-down fill and light-weight linen slipcovers in Oat Flour.
The website describes this chair as being for “those who love blurring the lines between contemporary and classic”. I love the clean but graceful lines of their square backs and curved arms. Piped seams edge the frame of the chair, giving it structure and a nice tailored look.
While the linen fabric is described as “light weight”, it actually has a good heft to it. I think it will be very durable.
With over 40 fabrics to choose from, custom pieces ship in 10-12 weeks. There is a limited stock of ready-to-ship combinations that should reach you in just 2-3 weeks. My chairs fell into the latter category when I ordered them, which was great!
The feather-down seat cushions have a foam core, so that they are both supportive and comfortable. And the back cushions are all feather-down, for that sink-in feeling.
The slipcover fits the chair well, but still has a relaxed look. Inverted pleats at the bottom corners are a nice detail.
The chair has the look and comfort of an occasional chair, but the size of a dining chair. So they tuck in nicely next to the fireplace. But I can also pull them up to the table for extra seating.
One of my favorite things about the chairs is how they don’t compete with the fireplace like the wicker chairs did. Their low profile, clean lines, and neutral taupe color make their own quiet statement, while allowing the beautiful stone fireplace to shine.
As you can tell, I am very happy with my new Sixpenny chairs!
Here is the link to my Amelia Dining Chairs (set of 2)!
This Week Into Next
I am leaving Sunday for a visit with my daughter Leah in St. Paul. She is the one who is pregnant and due in April. Her husband has a work trip to China next week, so I am going to keep her company and help her handle life with a toddler and dog while being 36 weeks pregnant!
I am definitely looking forward to both some mother-daughter and some Mim-Jamie time! Of course I also enjoy snuggles with their sweet dog Megan too.
We have some fun plans — pedicures and brunch, a trip to the children’s museum — and also some work to get done. I believe a deep clean of the bathroom is on the list…
A special space for Baby Girl
We are also going to pull together a special space in their primary bedroom for Baby Girl.
They aren’t ready to move Jamie out of his nursery yet. And they still want to be able to use the third bedroom for guests coming to meet the new member of their family.
Plus, newborns spend the first few months in the bedroom with their parents, anyway.
Leah had the idea of creating a corner dedicated to Baby Girl.
She didn’t need to ask me twice for design input!
Or maybe she didn’t ask me at all…
Whichever it was, I got right on it, looking for a small dresser/changing table, comfy chair, and organizer for all the baby necessities.
Since this will just be a temporary space, I focused on keeping things economical and choosing pieces that could be reused either in the new nursery or elsewhere in the home.
To this end, I looked primarily at Wayfair and Ikea. Both of these places have a quick delivery turn-around too. We have a looming due-date, after all!
After some back and forth with Leah to refine things, I am sharing the final design with all of you!
The brightly colored rug is preexisting in the space.
The small navy blue dresser will hold baby clothes and has a removable frame to hold a changing pad.
Leah picked out the chair — a comfy spot for snuggling now, and later a great addition to Leah and Adam’s room.
The wicker storage cart on wheels will store diapers, wipes, lotions, and cloths. Later it could be used in the bathroom, kitchen, or home office.
We will pick up some accessories — throw pillows and a blanket — during my visit. I particularly love the sweet floral pillow from Target.
I am so happy with how this quick little project turned out!
Shop Baby Girl’s space:
A sewing project
Speaking of projects, I completed a milestone sewing project the other day.
Two throw pillows with invisible zippers!
You might recall that this was one of my goals for the 2025.
It didn’t start well, however. I first used directions from a favorite local fabric store.
And it was a complete disaster.
So bad that I just cut the entire section of fabric and zipper off and threw it In the trash.
Undaunted, I watched this YouTube video (a couple times), purchased new zippers, and had a second go at it.
My zippers aren’t quite “invisible”, but I am so pleased with how the pillows turned out. And the second zipper was definitely a little better than the first.
Now I feel confident enough to make more pillow covers going forward.
I am certainly not at the tutorial level yet, but I do have a couple tips that I consider essential:
- Buy a zipper that is longer than the size of your pillow. Then you don’t need to deal with sewing around the pull. My pillow was a petit 18″, and I used a 22″ zipper, (I cut off the extra after it was attached.)
- Iron the teeth of the zipper flat.
- Use a zipper foot. This might seem obvious, but the first tutorial did not have me do that.
- Finish at least the zipper side of the fabric (I used a zigzag stitch) before attaching the zipper.
The pillow-cover world is my oyster now! I can make whatever pillows I want!
I leave you on that optimistic note this week!
Take good care!
