I love the idea of turquoise. Go for it!

Kristyn, I'm so jealous! I've been looking for those chairs for a year to do just that. They are window seat chairs from CB2 which are discontinued.

I was planning on lightly sanding them to remove the finish and then spray painting them white. After that, I would use a spray polyurethane to seal them.

If you go this route, make sure you use a flat spray paint for the color which will help the polyurethane stick easier.

My paint store recently sold me GripCoat, which is meant for veneers. Not sure if I was supposed to sand, I didn't. Used it as a primer for a veneer bookshelf I painted and the paintjob looks great, no scratches!

I'd say go bold. Turquoise.

Don't be tempted to skip the primer, a good spray primer then a few light coats of your colour will prevent drips or runs, I find myself painting things all the time. good luck.

This is really hard, because I love grey any bright color.

Grey red is classic and really great. Probably my favorite. HOWEVER ... Grey Yellow is also really great, but I don't know how it would look with the walnut ...

Grey Turquoise would probably be off the hook. ACTUALLY, I would paint them turquoise and then have red vases and things on the table. That would be my favorite thing ever.

It took out the plus signs. Every time when I said Grey and then another color, insert plus sign. Ok. Thanks.

I think keeping them as they are for awhile would help you decide what direction to go. By your post I don't see Turquoise with walnut and grey they will wash each other out. I think the shape of something determines the color and I don't see these Turquoise.

These are veneered wood not painted can't you use them as is and bring in the color other ways.

The turquoise sounds fun and fabulous.

Painted bent-ply chair?

Unless you choose the correct product, get ready for even more chipping and scratching, and perhaps even splitting and flaking where the wood flexes - Regular latex paint won't cut it.

Sand and fill any large chips with a quick dry filler. Let the filler dry and sand again. Prime then spray paint. Why not mix it up? Who says all six chairs have to be the same color? Maybe 2 white, 2 yellow and 2 turquoise! Or three of one color, three of another? Have fun! Good find on the Craigslist.

Chipping and scratching will definitely happen and be more noticeable once you paint it. I guess I would say heavily varnish and poly the chairs.

I did a project last year almost exactly like this. My chairs still look great and I've been very happy with the results. Here is what I did. It requires a bit of time, and much sanding. Here light coats of spray paint, matched with equal amount of sanding between coats results in high quality, smooth perfect long lasting finishes.

First: With a med grit sandpaper sand the chairs to get that veneer off. (if you need to fill any holes, scratches, whatever, then do so after with a filler, and then sand over the filler once it has dried)
Second: Wipe down with a damp cloth, they must be extremely clean. Then wipe with a dry cloth.
Third: Use a spray primer. I recommend holding your can about 12 in away and applying very light coats. So spray 1 coat, wait to dry, and a second light coat.
Fourth: Sand with a med-fine grit sand paper again. Again go through the motions of wiping with a damp cloth and then dry cloth.
Fifth: Spray a light coat of your color. Just as you did the primer. Let dry. Sand with a fine grit sandpaper. Wipe with the damp and then dry cloths. And continue this process a few more times, until you get the intensity of color you are looking for.
Sixth:When you have sprayed a few coats of you color, sanded and the chairs are dry, spray with a protective sealant. 1-2 coats.
That's it.

Nice chairs. I'm a stick in the mud: I like them the color they are.

However, if they were in a condition I felt required painting, I'd go for turquoise, since that would work best in my house. (If you already have a favorite accent color, maybe that's your best option.) If you can remove the legs for painting, that would expedite properly prepping and painting.

Definitely white or yellow. I don't see turquoise at all with mid-century walnut.

I dunno, blue on a chair like that reminds of those chairs back in kindergarten...in fact, any primary color does! Plus, turquoise might make the room look too "cool", you know what I mean? I'd warm it up with red, purple, or even green.

Had random thought: what about only painting the backside of the chairs?

i agree with bepsf...latex (even with a coat of poly) ain't gonna cut it. i'd go with an epoxy paint. you can get it in all sorts of colors:

http://www.epoxy-coat.com/epoxy_basecoat_colors.php

i sort of like the gray, dark grey and smoke blue.

I've used epoxy paint before, and while it smells terrible, it has a durability that can't be beat (scrub with TSP first, though). By way of a disclaimer, though, I've never used the concrete epoxy I listed above on furniture before (I used a bathtub refinishing epoxy kit to repaint my kitchen cabinets), so I might be naive in thinking all epoxy is the same.

touch them up and leave them alone. they're beautiful with the palette you described.