apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow, and here I thought my Heywood-Wakefield chairs were a great trash day find...congrats!

How many pieces need to be recovered?
Do they have to be sewn/glued/fastened to the frame?

can you sew? doing it yourself would be a lot cheaper and it's a pretty basic construction.


where do you live? I need to start coming to your area on trash day...

Julia, if you're having it recovered in the NYC or tri-state area, please please please let me know with whom. I have one (with much sentimental value attached to it) which is in dire need of recovering, but because of the high cost involved, i've been putting it off. I've done some research, but would sure like to hear what you found. Best of luck to you and thanks in advance.

P.S. Check out the tv show 'House' Hugh Laurie sits in one that's covered in a cream colored corduroy, which looks pretty interesting and comfy. I don't know what the cost would be tho'

It's hard to make a recommendation without seeing the room you're putting it in, but the fabric you've shown here is very cool, and I do love using vibrant color to reinterpret these now rather often seen midcentury classics - I once saw a lavender leather Barcelona chair that was to die for!

You may also want to try to find photos of the ICFF exhibit for the anniversary of this chair, where many decorators/artists did custom treatments. (AT mentioned it but didn't have many pics). I hear they did one in a metallic leather (!).

Also, do make sure to check with the upholsterer in advance to make sure you get enough fabric - it takes more than you'd think. Choosing a solid color helps you economize since you don't need to worry about pattern matching. And I definitely would NOT try to do this myself - it looks like the chair needs to be restuffed, and given the many curved edges and the need to keep the fabric taut in order to preserve the form of the chair, a DIY slipcover won't do it.

From The New York Times, Trade Secrets: Classic modernist furniture by Eames, Mies Van Der Rohe, Eero Saarinen and and others is restored to its original condition by Sol Ovadia at Prestige Furniture & Design Group in Woodside, Queens. Give them a call first and ask your questions. They might give some good advice.

From The New York Times, Trade Secrets: Classic modernist furniture by Eames, Mies Van Der Rohe, Eero Saarinen and and others is restored to its original condition by Sol Ovadia at Prestige Furniture & Design Group in Woodside, Queens. Give them a call first and ask your questions. They might give some good advice.
I found an original Eames DAX chair w/ X-base on bulk-garbage day in Fort Lauderdale. Awesome feeling, isn't it?

ebay has some terrific prices for leather, however it can be tricky to buy since is sold by the hide rather than by the yard

Yes, Prestige seems to be the expert on this type of furniture. I have no idea how costly they tend to be.

Thanks for the help everyone! I am a recent transplant to Honolulu (a long way from home) but I can't shake the habit of looking at AT NY. My boyfriend's mom is reupholstering the chair for us as a Christmas present (score!) Of course I have no idea where we should take it to be recovered, we may just ship it back to the "mainland".

I'll be sure to visit Zarin's and Joe's Discount on my trip home for the holidays.

We are waiting to settle in a little more before we paint and buy new furniture, so there is nothing to match the fabric to. I like the idea of a large print but I am afraid that I may get tired of it more quickly. Hmmm...

Thanks Justin

If you have your heart set on leather - ask friends or look in used clothing stores for old leather jackets/coats - the larger the better and use for upholstering - my brother was an upholsterer and did this for some of his customers - it also works with material (he upholstered dining chairs in men's houndstooth for a friend.

How about some of the Eams fabric designs that have recently been re-issued? There's a great one with dots and lines. I can't think of who sells the re-issues now. Anyone...?

You might want to try www.retroredo.com the owner is very friendly and specializes in fixing or redoing chairs of this type.

check it thorougly for bedbugs. Unfortunately, sometimes a great piece is sitting at the side of the road for that reason.

I'd go for a black ultrasuede in a heartbeat - affordable and durable, and still maintains the spirit of the original (even if necessity requires a "faux" vs. natural, um, hide).

(But I'd check for bedbugs, too, per warning's message!)

Congrats on the great find.

Highbrow Furniture has the replacement coushins priced on their site. You just need to know if it is a pre or post 1971 chair.

http://www.highbrowfurniture.com/seating/products/67071/

Price for entire chair is $1372.00 and ottoman is $ 680.00
That is if you want the leather.

And they always give 10% off if you use code: FAQ
Check it out on their FAQ page. They are the greatest people to deal with, so friendly. I buy all my stuff from them just for that reason. And free shipping unlike other sites.

The problem is this: if thats an authentic eames 670 (and I am assuming it is) then you may well knock the value down if you dont have it done by a professional. Its a $3000+ chair new, sometimes more if vintage. So, my advice is to save some money, and have a professional upholsterer do the work for you. You can buy large pieces of leather from kyson leather on Ebay. My guess for the chair and ottoman is about 55 square feet (I redid a plycraft repro of the chair and it used 50 sf)

Whatever you do - enjoy the chair! Its a gem that you are truly lucky to have found!!

ps. also check out the message board at www.designaddict.com lots of helpful hints!

I got some very cool, very bright vinyl at Mood Fabrics (they said it was discontinued Versace.) It looks like leather. Comes in orange, yellow, and other brights. I have the feeling that is not what you are looking for, though!

We just picked up a chair we had redone at ZARIN. It really came out great and worth the price. My mom has been shopping there for years and now we can't live without them. WHen I went to pick out fabric..they have a new showroom of furniture and accesories. They discount everything.I found some things from SAKS catalog there at 25% less. ( napkin rings) so I bought them and love them for holidays. I also bought a baby gift there of all places..and they wrapped is beautifully...so i will order gifts from them online since they ship too. Oh...they have the SAME ready made drapes as silk trading for 75 less PER PANEL. SCORED again. Georgeous embroideries...to die for.good luck

AT....just for your information...I went to Joe's Fabric Warehouse to compare to Zarin.
1. TINY selection
2. The place is a MESS..who could pay good money for DIRTY merchandise
3. Surprising..ZARIN was less! They must buy more so they get better discounts form vendors? WHo cares if we saved money right?

I would say even if it is authentic, go ahead and do whatever right now. Just make sure it is done well with an eye towards perhaps restoring later properly if you get the money and inclination to do so.

The fabric choice is pretty interesting, but obviously depends on the room.

we charge 850.00 to redo the chair and we furnish the leather
Hume modern can fix the pucks It is a shame that someone drilled holes on the side they need to be filled and painted . Lloyd
www.retroredo.com

I used retro redo last month to do a bucket
chair did a great job and it took a week
I would use them for your eames 670 lounge chair

Just FYI, the 2 holes for the arms that you can see on the base tell me that it probably isn't an original Eames. (That should take the pressure to do it perfectly off)

The other thing it that it is really easy to re-do these yourself. They were designed to be easily manufactured, which makes them easy to restore. Just have the arms re done at an auto upholstery shop and you can re-cover the base/back with leather and staple it on to the backing. You can buy reproduction leather buttons at an upholstery shop. This guy sells other parts:

http://www.humemodern.com/

Cheers

Check out www.retroredo.com

Nice find. I am jealous.
-M

I was looking to redo a Eames lounge chair from Herman Miller, and I saw this site.
I contacted Retro Redo In Tulsa Okla and talked to Loyd , He told me it would be around 900.00 or more, depending on the quality of the leather , It was my Dads chair and in our family since 1964. The leather was cracked and very dry, The stuffing was still in good shape as it was down. The owner of Retro Redo told me if I wanted the finest leather that they use either Spinnyback or Edelman leather.
or I could supply my own that I found on ebay . The chair turned out great the pads lined up with the orignal chair as they had to use the original clips that are different from todays chair. nice people to do business with .and only cost 30.00 to ship from AZ to Ok.

Hi just received a LaFonda chair that my parents had from the early 70's when my Dad worked in NYC . He was a big fan of Charles Eames and had lots of his furniture ,
He worked in the Time Life Bldg, for 25 years . I sent the chair to Tulsa Okla to a company called Retro Redo that I had seen there ad in Moderism magazine the owners name was Lloyd and he suggested that I redo the chair in one of the original stripes that it was done in since the chair was more than likely from the LaFonda del sol restaunt in the Time and Life Bldg.
The chair came back on Friday and I was shocked how good looking it looked He recovered it
in what he called Miller stripe designed by Alexander Girard the designer of the LaFonda Del Sole and the designer of the chair, with Charles Eames .
Lloyd told me the story of the chair and the Time Life Bldg. I just want people to know how nice he was to take his time and inform me of all these little tidbits of history on this chair , If he did not it would have been a nice chair at best. I just would not have known the exciting history of this chair that now sit proudly in my apt 10 blocks from the original Time life Bldg.

There's great fabric and leather for cheap on ebay. I got authentic Knoll fabric to cover my Florence Knoll sofa there for $10 a yard! They also have some great deals on leather too from the looks of it.

I also had some similar woes repairing my Eames lounge (although I did not find it in the garbage! You're so very lucky!). Mine had the holes drill through too and faulty shock mounts. For the shock mounts, I sent the panels back to Herman Miller directly. It's not commonly known or advertised, but they'll attach new shock mounts the right way for $150 per mount. Not bad and you know you're getting the real deal from them! I think Hume would probably charge the same or more to do it. I also had a local person here in Seattle repair my cushions. He did a marvelous job for a very reasonable price, but I'll have to check to see if he would be willing to do another.

My advice on the fabric is to go with the real thing. Leather. Your chair looks like the real deal and I'd hate to see it anything but what it was originally intended to have. If it was a fake, it'd be another story.

Best of luck.

I have that exact chair. It is not an original Eames. I couldn't care less, personally - I love mine. But I don't think you should spend a few thousand on a redu, when you could get a new reproduction for that much. Find some inexpensive good fabric or leather and it should be wonderful.