apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I can't see any decor other than your carpet, but you might want to with a beige or brown velvet. The velvet would evoke some of the glamour of the art nouveau and Hollywood, without clashing wildly with some of the more traditional elements of your house.

However if you're not limited by the carpet, you can ou can go for broke color wise, but I think I'd still like to see a velvet or velveteen on those chairs (maybe a dove grey, or a soft greyish blue).

Your chairs appear to be derived from the classic Beidermeier style.

I'd choose something interesting but durable - like a Microfiber Zebra Stripe - either Black/White or possibly even Red/White.

I completely agree with velvet. Make sure the fabric color brings out the beauty of the chair wood, not compete with it. A dark gray looks very nice with the wood color as does a deep, deep blue. I'm dealing with the same color of wood so I've been testing fabrics up against my chairs. Also, if you like pattern, the chair frames are so simple you could use a large design right in the center. Again, make sure the colors compliment the wood and the surrounding colors in your room.
I tend to stick with plain, lush fabrics on furniture and jazzy prints on pillows and art.

I'm glad that the fabric can ignore that rug. It's not terrible, but it would totally overwhelm anything you might put on your cool chairs.

They're probably late 195Os or early 196Os, in that period favorite finish they called 'fruitwood'--which could mean just about anything--and the exaggerated arc of the rear legs and the counterbalancing curve of the back's splat show they take as their inspiration the lines of French Directoire pieces from the late 18th or early 19th Century. This elegantly simple style was revived in the 193Os and it came back for another round when your pieces were made, without the fussy classique details that had given its previous revival the somewhat make-believe air of a film prop. Imagine this in shiny white lacquer with a black patent leather seat & you'll see what I mean: it could have come from the set of a Fred Astaire movie. Not, of course, that that's a bad thing.

But considereng your other furniture, you'll probably want a fabric that's appropriate for the style but which also won't look out of place as part of your larger ensemble. I'd look for a wide woven stripe--three or four inches--with a scroll or a key or something on the darker stripes. Conrtast is good, but not too much of it. I've got some fabric I picked up somewhere that's got a dark brown satin stripe & a pale gray ribbed stripe woven with masks of Medusa alternating with a long diamond on it, and something like that would be fine. Or if you wanted to go bolder, you could do plain stripes in a bright color, and make them even wider--say five inches. Then place them against a wall of a contrasting color. Either way, the slip seats will make an easy job of this. All I needed was a staple gun to reupholster a similar chair in about ten minutes. Have fun.

I would do a very rich, dark warm black.
For your wants, I would consider that red in the carpet---just make it more intense and rich looking.

http://www.modern-fabrics.com/store/store.php?pg1-cid71.html

lots of choices here, and i selected the 1-5 yard choices. many more in higher yardage pieces.

gold (matte not shiny) or brown chair stripe velvet (not wide wale) or some other rich, warm color!

I also like the velvet idea. A deep purple, maybe. It can work almost as a neutral, but it's not boring.

Personally, I'd go with a chartreuse velvet, because it would really set off the color of the wood. But if you're a little more sedate, a silvery grey velvet would be lovely, too.

Black and white stripe?