Q: I recently impulse-bought a batch of gorgeous chairs, which were going for a very reasonable price at the local vintage place on account of their condition. The woman couldn't tell me anything about their provenance, so I'd love to know if any readers recognize them! I'm planning to try to restore these babies, but I'm not quite sure what to do beyond a good scrub, a light sand, and a layer of oil or wax. Advice on how to best bring out their inner space-age glory would be greatly appreciated.
Sent by Jessica.
Editor: Can you identify Jessica's chairs? Or, do you have advise on restoring them? Please leave it in the comments - thanks!
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Comments (18)
Those are ridiculously cool.
i love them
Yup, amazing. I like your idea of just cleaning, sanding, and polishing-- but I'm no expert! Great eye!
Yeah, you have the right idea. Do that first, *then* observe whether they need (or you want to bother with) anything else. I'll bet they'll look super fine though.
I have no idea what those are, but I love them.
GORGEOUS! I like your idea of scrub/sand/wax. I'll bet when those are polished up they're going to be amazing.
Great! They look kind of Eastern European Modern. I would use something like Formby's wood products to start. It would clean them up but leave the character.
Sweet! I'm seriously jonesing for an all-out midcentury modern estate sale here in Western New York. *sigh*
those look sooo awesome. i want
Jessica, if you're watching, you have to PROMISE to come back and show the finished product. Pretty please??
Hi Jessica
No idea of the designer/origin, but The King Street Cafe in Perth, Western Australia is outfitted with the same chairs and I thought you might like to know that they have matching café tables. I had trouble finding their website, but I did find a traveller video:
http://vimeo.com/5209683
=) Marc
Jessica,
These are a really unique style. Just for something different to what everyone else has suggested, and for what I would do because I love my pieces to stand out, I would suggest the following...depending on your place and overall style i think you ought to consider either
1) painting them all really bold, contrasting colours - this could make for a real centre piece and talking point in your dining area...or
2) paint the wood white. This will be a stark contrast to the black legs and back frame, what an interesting juxtaposition of colours and lines.
Anyways, just ideas cos these chairs are a great opportunity. Good luck x
Shut the front door!
Nice chairs.......and to find so many. Ridiculous.
@CreativeSpark -- I thoroughly enjoyed Ndoty's lovely little video about his family's visit to the King Street Café. Great find.
And those chairs are fabulous - please let us see them after their spa treatment!
Given their shape, I'd be SO tempted to paint EYES on the back.
Great chairs. Great find. They'll turn out beautifully, I'm sure. @Creative Spark, I really enjoyed that lovely video! Thanks for the link!
Nifty! Good catch!
If (sadly) you decide to paint them, do NOT paint the black iron insert -- it really makes the chairs!
It probably ruins their original character/style, but how about painting the metal white and the wood in different bright colours like robin's egg blue, dark pink, pistacchio green etc?