Chair #24

ROUND BACK ADIRONDACK CHAIR

—Designed by Archie's Island Furniture

On the Archie's Island Furniture website, it asks the question, "Is there such a thing as happy furniture?" I say yes! It's nice to visit this chair on a cold January morning in New England... dreaming of bare feet, pink lemonade, and sand between my toes. All of the Adirondack style furniture at Archie's can be painted with bright, cheery colors... 28 fun colors, to be exact. Now that's happy.

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Rustic furniture originated in 18th-century Europe during the popularity of great landscape gardens, and later gained momentum in the U.S. at the turn of the century (that would be the 20th century, people) when the great magnates commissioned their summer "camps". To us ordinary folks these camps were actually opulent mountain retreats. Sigh. There were two types of this rustic furniture. One type is made of the recognizable parts of a tree, such as tree twigs, tree limbs or bundled willow, and the other type looks like this chair, made of thin sheets of barkless wood. A classic Adirondack chair features slatted back and seats that are set at a deep angle—suitable for optimum relaxation. And the arms are wide enough to place that glass of pink lemonade on.