Q: I am trying to hunt down Tolix chairs for a better price than the usual $250. I found some used ones in my area for 60 dollars! However, they are the Tolix armchairs and are painted dark brown (which I personally think looks pretty bad). Is it still worth it to buy them and perhaps repaint them? What colors would look okay on these chairs?
Sent by Natalie
Editor - The French-made classic Tolix Cafe Chairs look great in almost any primary or vintage era hue (think Technicolor, the brighter the better!). Pottery Barn is selling the Tolix for $225, which is a smidgen under the $250 you quote, but won't require you repainting them. But if you decide to repaint the $60 brown arm chairs, you may want to consider taking them into get powder coated for a fine, long lasting finish, as recommend by many readers in this previous post about how to paint an old metal filing cabinet.
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If you like them buy them. If you don't like the way they look after you repainted them you can always sell them again.
view Comicgeek's profile
Bare metal.
view pinky speedway's profile
I was going to say repaint for sure, but then I stopped myself. The color that they are can still work well with a nice cushion depending on where they're going and what the colors around them would be. I can imagine a place with lots of whites, beige, wood and varied textures, then these can look cool as they are.
http://www.modernests.com
view MODERnestS's profile
yes! i bought the same chairs in the same brown color and repainted them and i love them. the brown really sucks the life and light out of a room. buying used and repainting is way cheaper and you'll have the exact color you want.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/seating-dining-sidechairs/before-after-marys-new-white-chairs-087337
view koobifora's profile
Try sanding and spraypainting, then sanding and painting again. Use a color you love. If you don't do a great job, save up the $200 or so it would probably cost to have them powdercoated.
view sally305's profile
I'm a sucker for the metallic and light blue ones out of the picture.
view Jennie K.'s profile
We have the Tech Shop here in No. California. Which I only mention because there you can do your own powder coating. There is a fee of course, and you're required to take a three hour class to use the facilities, but it's totally worth it. Hubs and I are such fans that we're building a list, and planning on purchasing a year membership.
You might check to see if there is such workshop anywhere in your own area.
view paintitbright's profile
go to a paint store that deals with automotive shops and ask for 'Aircraft' stripper to remove the paint. you'll be left with bare metal. if you don't like the look of that, i'd recommend taking them to a auto body shop to have them repainted to get top quality.
view orangepaperbike's profile
HELL TO YHE YEAH!!! buy them and play with them. $60 seems like a great buy unless you're like me and don't get to all the projects that you intend to. then it would not be $$ well-spent and the chairs will just take up space.
view denise123's profile
Yeah, go for it! That brown is kind of poopy, bleh. Maybe paint them a bright yellow or robin's egg blue or pink. Probably not any dark colors.
view HeyNowTex's profile
For a bare metal option: If you have an air compressor, you can get a sandblasting attachment and blast off the old paint to get to the metal...then seal and you're done. I've refinished several patio pieces that way. Good luck!
view ModFruGal's profile
I have 6 of these chairs. They were all in that brown color I bought them at a flea market for 100 bucks. I had them painted white (at a place that paints cars). Bought some throw pillows for seats (anchor them with Velcro) then I took some braided rope from the craft store and wrapped the middle back in the same color as the cushion. They now sit in my dining room under a glass table with a runner made from the same material the cushions are made of. Total cost: chairs $100.00, throw pillows $50.00, braid $30.00, painting $100.00, table runner $5.00.
view DKOSS's profile