apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

if the chairs are solid hardwood I would keep the paint miles away from it but refinish them. In order to add a fun whimsy touch I would
upholster the side chairs with some co-ordinating colorful textured fabric ( other than brown because the wood would have a darkfinish) stripes, or curves or plaid for a more formal look and upholster the arm chairs with a very different color upholstery which would coordinate the fabric of the side chairs. You take a cue from the garment district which has a myraid of fabrics.

Talking about Chairs - what would you say about the Rex lounge chairs at DWR. I went to their secaucus store yesterday and fell in love with them. My name takes you to the Rex chair.

I too love the Rex chair -- and actually found the one I sat in quite comfortable. DWR used to carry the chair in wenge which would be better for my decor so I'm opting out of getting one. But for the price I don't think one could go wrong if the chair fits in with the design of interior in which it would be placed.

Don't paint them! Refinish them instead. Paint will make them look cheap. Upholstering is a good idea. Best of luck...

unless you have it on good authority that the chairs are valuable antiques, i see no reason not to paint them. i think your ideas are good ones, though i'd add the same advice maxwell gave and eschew the spray paint.

Thanks for the sugggestions so far. One question: If I did prime and paint them, does anyone know if I need to strip the finish off first? Or will the primer/paint adhere as is?

you definitely want to give it a sand so that the primer will adhere, but you don't need to sand all the finish off.

The major reason to paint is to avoid stripping the finish, but you need to take some steel wool and give the chairs a good rubbing (wear gloves!) before you paint.

I would definitely keep the chairs a warm, dark brown. Maybe think about covering the seats with a lighter Tiffany blue? Or an even more pale blue.

Go ahead and paint! I agree that unless they are super-valuable, there's no reason not to. Don't know if you have curtains but it would be nice to play the seat fabric off some window-treatment. And I take it the table is valuable?? If not, you could lacquer it a cream color, which I think looks really good.

I'm starting to think that dining room chairs should not be covered in fabric. It just seems that no matter how much stainguard is used, fabric is unforgiving, especially in a house with and kids or that entertains a lot. When I redo my chairs, I'm hoping to upholster with leather or faux-washable-yet-real-looking leather. It just seems that it will wear and age better, especially with every day use.

Go for it Elizabeth. You are ONN

Elizabeth, you appreciated these chairs' architectural pierced backs, weren't you? The lines are more graphic when contrast with surrounding, so unless you plan to paint your walls deep mahogany brown, I wouldn't advice painting the chairs light color.
In any case, the cream paint will change the style of the chairs - they will look more appropriate for so called French Provincial, or French Country, decor - in other words, you will cheapen them.

I would leave the frames their beautiful acquired mahogany depth, just clean and polish them.
The seats I'd upholster in some bold black+white geometric pattern, possibly Donghia and possibly in simplified elliptical shapes, to relate to the backs. It will give this marriage of old and new that you'd said is your goal.

The armchairs' fabric should be slightly higher grade, woven with multicolored threads, in grey, black, red and some olive green to lighten it up. Pattern - as you prefer, even floral (I'd do leaves, but it's up to you), could be directional (stripes across the seats, f.ex) or not.

Regarding fabric - check out SUNBRELLA for their indoor upholstery fabric which is supposed to be durable and easy to clean.

http://www.sunbrella.com

I also saw an ad for Robert Allen Fabrics - the have a new line that is also supposed to be easy-care. Probably a little pricey but for the small yardage you need for chairs, it may not be too bad!

We have some microfiber dining room chairs. Our sectional is also microfiber. They are both a little over three years old and with many kid guests with sticky fingers and this past weekend, a black marker, I have to admit it's fairly indistructable. A little soap and water and a gentle rub has gotten just about everything thrown at it, out.

The big "update the traditional" gimmick this year has been a bright paint on a traditionally shaped chair, and with the return of the baroque, I'm betting it has staying power. That would be an argument for going coral on the chairs and using a brown and coral fabric for the new seats.

Having many times felt the lure of the low-priced vintage dining chair with an interesting shape, I'm skeptical that this is beautiful wood that shouldn't be painted. Many solid hardwood chairs of the 1950s and later don't have ultra-gorgeous wood, even refinished, and are better featured for their shapes.

One thing you could do to freshen these without painting would be to polyurethane them with a VERY high gloss finish so they sparkle, at least, and then some kind of very glassy shiny vinyl if you can find it.

I think some kind of oversize chain-link pattern, kind of like Tat's idea of something elliptical would be good.

tat has a point about contrast. if the photo is the color of the walls in the room where the chairs will be, cream might not be the best option in terms of highlighting the shapes, lines, negative space, etc.

that said, i don't think painting the chairs would "cheapen" them. i think they'll definitely look more casual and rustic, but not cheap (at least not cheap in the sense i'm used to, i.e. crappy particle board junk). i also disagree that they'll look "french country". other than the fact that cream colors are associated with that style, the lines of this particular chair are really far from that.

ultimately, though, do what makes you happy. they're lovely chairs, and you got a great deal for them. hard to mess that up.

I would lacquer them a bright color, like red or apple-green or even robin's egg blue and then would upholster in a geometric fabric. I just don't personally like the wood on these chairs, but granted, a photo is not like seeing it up close.

If you look on the Oct 2005 cover of Elle Decor, you'll see a great example of how vintage chairs can be featured as graphical elements. The chairs are painted a matt black with black upholstered seats. The big round table is painted a glossy white and the walls are painted white. For fun, there is a very showy chandelier with blue turquoise shades. The chairs really stand out and look *fantastic* because you can really appreciate their shapes! I'm wondering if you could adapt that look to your room? Here are some links of the looks that I'm thinking of:

http://www.treillageonline.com/photo/ElleDecor_tn.jpg

http://cheapsubscriptions.com/covers_zoom/2329-10.jpg

http://pics.drugstore.com/prodimg/81517/200.jpg

*opoponax, French Country comes in various shapes (see link at my signature). What I refer to is that for an unprofessional light-colored paint is very difficult to apply to a curved surface, to the level it will not look hand-painted. And hand-painted, "rustic" look is what's characteristic of the French Country, along with over-simplified shapes and proportions vs. classical chaise. I understand Elizabeth wants more refined still not too whimsical look, so I'd leave the frames be. May be give them that high sheen Curtis was suggesting, but that's about it.
Elizabeth, you can stain-repel or guard your fabric, I think some of the better upholsering places can do this service, or may be dry-cleaners. Or you can even laminate it, like the owner of that gorgeous loft featured @AT did (the one with mirror window jambs).

maybe i'm just being deliberately dense, but elizabeth's chairs don't look too much like the ones you linked to (some of which aren't french country anyway but shaker). i wasn't aware that ladderback styles and their ilk were particularly representative of that style.

and i'd agree that they'll certainly look rustic, but rustic only equals french country on craigslist and ebay, not in real life.

You're not being dense, opoponax. I strongly suspect that back shape was meant to be "southwestern" in the late 1980s, which would make them the right age to find themselves dumped for $100.

If that guess is right, then the wood probably doesn't look "refined" with Elizabeth's existing antiques. What makes them cool is their potential for being painted to show up the shape, so that they work as sculpture. A solid, stylish color -- no artificial scuffing, no crackling, no aging, and at least a semi-gloss finish -- should make the chairs look higher-end than they were in their first life.

I absolutely love the radiator cover in your picture. Where did you find it or did you have it specially made?

Dan