apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

girl after my own heart! I love it-very fresh!

AWESOME! I love this chair! Great work, and what a great find!

I really need to pick up a second job with Urban...

How would, if someone had the inclination, stripped the paint, instead? Does one still have to scrape if one uses chemicals?

Neat chair! I probably would have chosen different fabric, but the end results are wonderful! I hope it's comfortable...

Nice save. Very fun and funky.

a total ten! i love it!!

enmem - yes, you would still have to scrape, and a chair with this many nooks and crannies would be absolutely obnoxious! Maybe impossible if you were looking to get down to the wood and restain or seal it.

Last summer I stripped a set of old wood dining chairs with turned dowels and ornate hand carvings on the tops of the chairs. After using the stripper to remove 4 coats of very old paint down to the original finish, the chairs look pretty good but I can honestly say never again.

It's amazing what a neutral coat of paint and a groovy fabric can do to an otherwise dated looking piece of furniture.

Laura
grafxnerd.tumblr.com

@enmem, yep, you would. If you were inclined to strip the thing, the best option would be to have a professional do it. From personal experience I can say that stripping something with even minor carved decoration is a pain in the tail.

Oh, and beautiful chair! I actually rather liked the silver but the dark with such brilliant fabric is very striking.

I love it! How much would it cost to take a chair like that to be upholstered professionally? (I could never do that myself)

I can't believe they were going to throw out a chair with such fabulous bones. Where am I when these things turn up on the trash heap? What a great save!

I love this.

You people who "love" this chair should go to the museum and look at really good chairs. The "Baroque" ornament is phony, ersatz, crude, etc. I can discern these failings even through the murky haze of the photos.

I'm supposed to take it as a joke of some kind, perhaps. But I'm not laughing.

I thought this chair was amazing to begin with honestly, and I was really nervous to see the outcome... and it's even more AMAZING! The fabric goes amazing with the paint color... i'm very jealous.

Not my taste - but an impressive find nevertheless...

maybe you should work in product development @UO

Awesome! It looks great! I, too, liked the silver and almost didn't look at the "after" pic, but it is beautiful.

@ebenfield - maybe there is a better site for you to read and post on where the projects meet your museum-quality standards. Get a life.

Bravo! (gimmie, gimmie)

ebanfield: I'm a little puzzled by your comment. Perhaps you missed the point of this post? Nobody is revering this chair as the epitome of... fine chair art, or whatever the heck you're talking about.

If we were talking about some kind of god among chairs:
a. They probably would have taken it to be restored, rather than giving it such a funky new look.
b. It probably wouldn't have been headed for the trash in the first place.

So, seriously- chill out and appreciate this for what it is: a creative make-over of a free chair!

ebanfield --

I don't recall the OP stating that she was considering gifting it to the Metropolitain Museum, selling it at Christies, or insuring it for thousands of dollars...
...she practically got it out of the dumpster behind UO after all.

This looks great! I like how the chair is kind of wide and squat. It has good personality.

Im in LA and have been looking for an affordable upholsterer, would you recommend/refer yours?

Thanks!

beautiful chair. in norway its sooo hard to find barokk funiture. it all cost sooo much. I kinda liked the old one much better dough. but thats MY taste:)

nice work with it dough:)

First of all, Great job! But my heart is with the funky old silver one which would look absolutely fabulous in my place I love the colors in the fabric but the design clashes to much with the style of the chair for me.

hah! I love this!

Alyssa, you rock! The re-considered chair is a knockout--fun, beautiful, fresh, clean.

chrisciever
I'm an upholsterer in Los Angeles. I didn't do this project, but I'd be happy to give you a quote.
check my work and give me a call/email:
www.properfurniture.net

I kinda like the before picture more.

Didn't help! Now it's an ugly chair with an incongruous groovy fabric.

....I like the before picture....

Very cool!

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the love on the chair... or not =)!

@chrisciever: I used AAA Upholstery in Torrance:
1276 Sartori Ave
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 320-5102
Although they did an amazing job on the chair and they are somewhat affordable (around $300 for this chair i think?), they do take FOREVER. Also, the woman who works there is a little nutty (to say the least) and she's not very familiar with modern furniture. Heck, I'm even considering going with "Proper Furniture"!

@ebanfield: It's definitely not too old, maybe and 80s repro? The wood underneath was some sort of composite material. Definitely not suitable for refinishing at all... but I still love it! As for my photography skills, I'm still working on those ;).

-Alyssa

I kind of liked the photo before... and was nervous what will be after. and unfortunately my expectations were confirmed - another chair in loud, "funky" design not matching in anyway to the shape. *sigh*.
i would love this chair... i would only paint the wood, leave the fabric.

the dark paint neglects to highlight all of the baroquish charm of the woodwork. and I have to say that groovy fabric just does not hit my mark. a nice chair, but a very questionable color transformation.

It seems to me, Alyssa, that you and others don't fully understand the nature of your project. Here's my "deconstruction" of it:

The fancy old chairs in museums were designed to enhance the social standing of the people who sat in them. (A king's throne is the extreme example.) Naturally those chairs were carefully designed with the highest level of craft and materials. No composite stuff allowed!

Your chair, on the other hand is a sort of parody of that. You're mocking the old style. I won't speculate as to your motivation. But that's how I interpret your project. It's meant to be ironic. A number of AT posts have that quality. My taste in the matter is not important, but I think it's important to understand the message that you are sending.

Alyssa, good for you for repurposing a chair that was geared for a junk yard. I hope you enjoy having it your home.

I understand what ebenfield is saying but... I don't believe the intention was for high art. Yes its an attempt at irony. Its fun and light hearted.

I was going to write a paper on the "Psychology of Pontificating Comments in harmless Before & After posts", but my keeper tells me it's time for my meds.

Very fun and creative upgrade, Alyssa! Anything that doesn't go to a landfill, trash heap etc. is a problem less for the environment. Good job!

It wasn't meant to be fine art. It was meant to be fun and ironic and one less item in the landfill.

An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.