Today I want to introduce you to my beloved Eames chair.
Charles and Ray Eames are best known for their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, industrial design and manufacturing, and the photographic arts.
As I was approaching my 50th Birthday last August I thought about what would make my day and year memorable. I knew that a special trip was not on the cards as we were in the midst of launching Mapology Guides.
I had dreamt about an EA217 soft pad low back Eames chair for ages and I knew that if I ordered one it would have to be in yellow. I called Guy Drayton of Geoffrey Drayton to discuss the matter. Well, he said, this would be considered a ‘special colour’. Let me contact Vitra. It only took a couple of weeks before Guy dropped round a leather swatch book by Stolz, a Belgium company. I immediately fell in love with the yellow leather swatch and that was it.
Once I ordered the chair it took around 6 – 8 weeks. I was in no rush. All I wanted is to have the chair before Christmas. And then the day of delivery arrived. To be totally honest, I was a little insecure about my choice of colour. It’s one thing seeing a small swatch, yet another seeing the whole chair covered in it!
When Guy started to unpack and adjust the chair I started to calm down knowing I made the right decision. We all know that most people that buy this chair will have it in white or black but that’s playing it safe, that’s a little boring to me. I did want to be true to who I am and I am ‘Colourliving’.
Here is the beauty in it’s full glory. How could I have doubted my choice?
The details, the stitching, the softness of the leather. It’s ultra comfortable. You adjust the height and you can lean back if you so wish. I’ve noticed that I’m already doing my OCD thing of panicking about marks et cetera. Wearing jeans or dark clothing does leave some marking but hey, this chair needs to be lived in, it needs to reflect the hard work that’s being performed here.
As in true quality fashion, Vitra gives you a 30 years guarantee.
It feels nice to have spoilt myself for my 50th Birthday, to mark a special year for me in so many ways. I also see any purchase like this as an investment. I do believe in investing in quality design products. I’ve been after an office chair for years, but couldn’t get the Eames chair out of my mind so was using my David Rowland’s 40/4 dining table chair instead, which is really comfortable.
It was worth the long wait! Do you believe in investing in design pieces?
