Before & After: Vintage Metal Furniture Rescued

We have friends who are wild about vintage metal furniture. They have a few pieces in the garden and seem to always have an eye out for more at garage sales, flea markets and the like. Our friends are fine with some age showing on the pieces and just leave them and love them in their as-is state BUT we recently found a site that shows that they do like mighty fine when refurbished...

This chair before and after is just one example that we saw on Mulberry Street, a site that deals in vintage metal furniture that they "rescue" through restoration.

From Mulberry Street about these particular chair: It was produced by Arvin Industries in the 1940’s or 50’s. The scale of this chair is smaller than some from this period. The simple geometric pattern on the back and seat reminds me of Art Deco designs. The photographs say everything there is to say about the beauty of this saucy rocker. It's fun just to look at! We have 3 identical chairs available, priced per chair.The color is Sherwin Williams 6607 Red Tomato.

More info: Mulberry Street

Images: Mulberry Street

Comments (7)

I LOVE these chairs. I have some similar that I painted bright yellow. I adore them, and have been watching for more.

posted by BambiJo on May 14th 2009 at 11:42am
view BambiJo's profile

I recently bought a couple of "Retro Metal Tulip Chairs" from meijer.com. It's hard to find this kind of outdoor furniture new or old (in decent condition) so this company offers a wonderful service. I wish I had the $ to fill out my set with one of their gliders. At the very least I'm inspired to give restoration a shot if I can get my hands on a vintage piece.

posted by dash on May 14th 2009 at 11:44am
view dash's profile

Auto body & paint shop will do the same work, 1/2 the price.

posted by FantasticMrFaux on May 14th 2009 at 12:09pm
view FantasticMrFaux's profile

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=75833-19407-SB-642-G&lpage=none

I saw these at the Lowes site.

posted by junklover on May 14th 2009 at 1:23pm
view junklover's profile

I know an artist that uses old metal chairs as his canvas. Here is one I own. http://www.flickr.com/photos/orngcatstudio/2256988288/in/set-72157603885298176/

posted by dmstudio on May 14th 2009 at 2:47pm
view dmstudio's profile

I have that Lowes chair. Not my ideal color choice (I figure I'll repaint it once I have more of my patio put together) but def. my ideal price, and it lounges great. It's noticably lower than other outdoor chairs, but for a short gal like me it is very comfortable.

A word of warning, though: it's tricky to assemble. You have to put a fair bit of weight on the legs especially in order to line all of the screw holes up, so it's a project best tackled with two sets of hands.

posted by BornSlippy on May 14th 2009 at 4:40pm
view BornSlippy's profile

I love these kinds of chairs. They have just enough bounce to be super comfortable. Any color looks good on them.

posted by baileyb on May 14th 2009 at 7:12pm
view baileyb's profile