Nice find. I would refinish the wood on the chair backs and legs in the same color. Reupholster the seats with a solid-colored textured fabric, like a nubby mohair. You're right, they are very easy to reupholster, so you could go with a bold color and change it when you tire of it. Are you keeping the table? If so, I'd paint it to make it contrast more so that it looks like an intentional mismatch. Right now it looks a little odd with the MCM chairs. Another option: switch the table legs to something more sleek.

My ideas? I would sand the wood down and re-stain. Then get the fabric reupholstered in a cool graphic fabric with a nice texture. Something classic like a black & white pattern would look nice against the wood stain.

Wouldn't a zebra print look awesome? Well, that's me, I'm obsessed with zebra print right now.

You can use a very fine grade steel wool on the legs, and apply lemon oil to the wood backs to spruce the chairs up.

I found chairs very similar to yours that were upholstered in an awful black vinyl. All you have to do to reupholster them is to unscrew the seats, pry all those staples out and stretch a fabric to fit and restaple. (you might need new foam if it has started to disintegrate.) Other than that, try some wood conditioner to get rid of the worn look and polish up the metal and you will likely be very happy with the result.

If you're hesistant about pattern, look for solid fabrics with texture (and tonal variegation):
http://www.fabricfabric.net/images/swatches/S1093.600x600_thumb.gif

A print that fits with the MCM vibe could look excellent with these chairs -- something bright and graphical would work well, if you can find one. You might poke around IKEA's fabric section to see if anything strikes your fancy.

I love the chairs. I actually like your idea for doing the legs and back in a different color, though if you do this, you'll probably want to redo your table as well. Perhaps the table could be the same color as the legs...it would be a nice contrast. If you go this route, you could pick a solid fabric so you don't end up with too much going on.

I also like farmhousemoderne's idea about changing the table legs for something more modern that would reflect the danish styling of the chairs.

Here are some links to pics of my own dining set. Like you, I bought it on craigslist and spruced it up. I've changed the table (again!) since then.

http://blog.apt528.com/2007/09/painting-lessons.html
http://blog.apt528.com/2007/10/i-forgot.html

I second the idea of replacing the legs on the table.

Murphy's Oil works wonders in hiding nicks and making the wood shiny and new again.

I think a print would look cool....

I would work with another table.

Upholstery depends on whatever else you have going on. Off the top of my head, ivory leather.

I have similar danish teak chairs. To clean them up I gave them a light sanding and oiled the wood with "Danish teak oil". For the seats, I had them recovered with black leather, to replace the original seats that were falling apart. Another classic seat cover for this type of chair would be a knubby wool. Or you could go scandinavian mod with Marimekko fabric. Check out their website at: www.marimekko.com.

I would paint it out white. All this devotion to the grain of wood, the natural look of the wood, honor the wood...blah...Paint it a fun color, and put a graphic black and white fabric on the seats. Wax cloth or vinyl would be yum.

paint them matt finish white

also get some similar table legs to the chairs and it would look sweet as

i just redid a table and chairs with howards restore a finish and then added howards feed n wax per recommendations from AT readers. once you do that you might not need to sand, stain, paint, or refinish! just change the legs and upholstery and it's much less time consuming of a project that ends up never being done.

If you do keep this table, get new legs for it; I know they DO still make legs that would match the overall flavor of the chairs. For years, you could buy legs like that in any hardware store. Then they stopped, because they because hopelessly out of style, but they're back in a big way now.

Anyway... those legs might not really be all that cheap, though, but it might be a nice way to not have to throw out the table.

Here's some tapered legs that might work for your table:

http://www.tablelegsonline.com/Tapered-table-legs-L2.htm

Michelle,

Great find...
My husband and I just finished a similar project in November. We have almost identical chairs--they are soooo cool. Their original "fabric" was black vinyl. They look great with our new upholstery (more modern printed fabric) are super EASY to re-upholster yourself. All you need is a staple gun and heavy-duty (long) staples. Each chair takes about 3/4 of a yard-we cut each into 25"x25" squares which was plenty (we did 14!!)
I agree the tables needs NEW legs! or just ditch the table (is it Danish modern too?) $30 bucks is a deal just for the chairs!
To refinish the wood, just use superfine steel wool and lemon oil like someone else suggested. If you use teak oil remember to RUB IT OFF after 20-30 minutes or it will set like a thick sticky glue. GOOD LUCK and have FUN!!

Oh and DO NOT paint them white! That's a crazy idea!