The Tux Chair

When my husband and I first started going to Crate and Barrel together, which was pathetically early in our relationship, we fell in love with a chair.  We rarely agree on furniture that we like, but we both loved this charcoal and black houndstooth chair.  Every time we are near a Crate and Barrel, I always drag him in, even if we're just window shopping, as I always enjoy looking at all their little gadgets and seasonal items.  And every time we would see that chair.  For years, we only admired it, as it was too expensive and matched nothing that we had.

Finally, when we bought our first home we needed a dining table.  My husband was out to sea while I was deciding on a table, but there was one that we had both seen and agreed we liked, so I headed to Crate and Barrel, armed with all my coupons when the table went on sale.   We got a great deal on the table, and as I was discussing financing with the cashier, I added, "oh and we'll take the Tux chair too."  The chair cost almost as much as our whole dining set, but I knew there was no way he would be upset about this purchase.  With the two of us on a steady salary now, it was not a completely unreasonable purchase and it was exciting to finally get something we had put off for so long!

The chair was finally delivered just a couple days before he came to visit for his stand-down leave.  I had built up quite the honey-do list while we was gone, and included was shopping for housewares to pull together the final touches on our home.  We effectively spent an entire day trying to match this chair.  Crate and Barrel (duh), Tyson's, Pottery Barn, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Goods and Ikea were on the agenda.  Do we make it match the dining room?  Re-do the linens in the bedroom?  Get an entire new couch set up for the basement?  We couldn't decide, and nothing seemed to be a good solution.

I have a massive Pinterest board devoted to trying to match this chair

We stumbled upon a tone-on-tone white houndstooth duvet at Z Gallerie and thought that might work.  We didn't buy it, but bought some gray sheets from BB&B and gave those a test run with our down comforter.  It looked terrible!  White and gray just don't go with our dark brown furniture and leather headboard.

black, gray, white & brown?

This chair is taking over our lives!  We even discussed returning the chair, but neither of us had the heart to do it.  So the quest continues... Interior designers out there, help us!