Four Red Chairs (Not.Com)

For about four seconds in early 2010 I was going to name this website 4redchairs.com. My husband instantly put the kibosh on this ("too precious") and we moved on to my multiple thousand other less precious and decidedly less good options. (A lowpoint: TheJenerator.com...Get it? Jenny? So bad.) But the truth is, when DALS reader Kristin wrote in last week asking me where I purchased the red chairs that figure so prominently in all my pictures (not to mention provide a crucial, unsung dinnertime role) she might have been the 100th person in 2010 alone to ask me that question.

The short answer is this: DWR.

The long answer is: The DWR outlet in Seacaucus, NJ and as soon as we spotted them we barely had a second to scratch our chins and consider the purchase before other shoppers began elbowing us out of the way to pull them off the shelves. So we grabbed the last four -- and I think they might have been the last four in the universe because I check on their website periodically and they never turn up.

If you are in the market for bright, fun chairs (and if you're not, why aren't you???) my style-y friend Meryl who I worked with at Cookie suggests hunting around 2modern.com and hivemodern.com. She also pointed me in the direction of this very similar Steelwood Chair that is currently available at Conrans (at $644 a pop)...

...but for those of us with less in the budget, she suggests heading to Ikea and picking up a few Bojnes (for a more palatable $89.99 each) and painting them red.

Or paint them electric blue or bright green or yellow. Or mustardy brown for all I care. Just paint it whatever color it takes to get you and your family to actually sit down and enjoy a meal together.