PICK YOUR SEAT!

I believe I learned the fine art of entertaining from my mother (picture Martha Stewart without the empire or prison record). Once upon a time, while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, my parents hosted a party to raise money for local, struggling artists. The one request to her six-year-old son for the evening: "please don't pick your nose or your seat!" As guests rolled through our front door I locked eyes on the only other person under 40 in the room, a young lady (I think she was seven) who had reluctantly accompanied her parents that evening. The gracious young host in me took her by the hand, grabbed a plate of food, a tablecloth out of my mothers linen closet and headed straight to the bathroom where I set up a lovely table for two on our toilet seat. Complete with candles and fine linens, I treated that young lady to an evening I'm sure she (and my mother) will never forget. Our dinner was eventually interrupted by a guest searching for the loo shocked to find us eating where most people poo! One of the many lessons I learned that night was a nice tablecloth can jazz up just about any nasty seat! Today, in my relentless pursuit of hip, interesting, inexpensive design ideas I came across a simple way to brighten up our outdoor seats: attach a tablecloth to them! To make these garage sale finds weather-proof, I spray painted them with outdoor furniture paint and found a hip, colorful outdoor tablecloth at Target. Measure a piece three inches larger on all sides than the seat, cut, attach to bottom with a staple gun and your done! You, too, will see that it's neat to pick your seat!

TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Ten minutes per chair

COST: Round Dots tablecloth at Target: $6.99 (One table cloth covered six chairs)

STRESS LEVEL: Picking the perfect seat at the party: LOW