apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would have it professionally painted at a car painting shop. Nice chairs!

Purl Soho has a good selection of upholstery weight fabrics. I also like Repro Depot's collection. I've good experiences ordering from both sites. Good luck!

Those are lovely. I think they'd be nice (depending on the room you're putting them in) if you leave them as they are paint-wise, but change the cushion fabric to something a little bolder. Josef Frank textiles would be pretty.

Amy Butler's Midwest Modern - Rowan I think collection would be adorable. You could keep the wood finish, do high gloss white, or black - depending on the room. They are fab.

The E-Bay store Peace By Piece Fabrics has good prices on amazing upper end upholstery fabrics.

I would paint them either glossy white or glossy black, than change out the fabric.

Sand them down and ebonize them using india ink and refinish chair in patterned fabric of your taste.

I wouldn´t paint them... I just think that there is too much painted furniture and it gets a little boring. The wood seems solid, fine, beautiful. It goes with (almost) any pattern or color. Wood is timeless. Personally I am sorry that I painted some of my wooden furniture.
For the fabric I would recomend something elegant and not very overpowering, otherwise I think it would clash with the shape of the chair. It´s a beautiful chair.

i actually really like them just the way they are...lots of character and pretty green vintage fabric. they look loved!

I second Mrs. Yow's eBay suggestion. You really can't beat the prices for fantastic "trade only" upholstery fabric.

You also might want to take a look at modern-fabrics.com.

http://www.modern-fabrics.com/

I also agree with Comicgeek that you want a professionally spray applied finish if you are going to go glossy.

Beautiful chairs.
Like DanielleSD, I like them just as they are. I'd leave them be if they were mine. But they'd also look striking with glossy black and bold upholstery (color would depend on your color scheme).

Wow, I agree with Jjanul. I've seen so many before and after shots now both on AT and Design Sponge, where I wonder if that was really the smartest choice.

These chairs look great as they are. I don't even mind the cushion upholstery. They evoke a pretty lakeside cottage.

Imagining them in glossy, shiny white or black paint makes me shiver.

Though high-gloss black or white is probably more versatile, I've been dying to do a lacquered red or bright yellow, thanks to CB2 which keeps putting all sorts of ideas in my head. Depending on the space you want to put them in, it certainly could be a very colorful accent.

I've also been on a huge eBay fabric trip lately; you can find Robert Kaufman, Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabrics there for so cheap (not to mention browsing for vintage stuff if you have the patience)!

You should post a photo of the room they'll be in. Bold-on-black would look great on those chairs but terrible in my living room.You could do almost anything. Not to narrow your options or anything. You could strip the wood refinish it. Or paint it in a high-gloss red, or white. Or yellow. Or turquoise. Or gold.

Or ... take a look around Reprot Depot and point out some fabrics you like. I'm having fantasies of gold chairs with fuchsia upholstery. Maybe some marimekko and white paint? Or something whimsical?

Do the reupholstery first in something you love - then decide if you really must paint out the wood. And consider stains before you paint it with gloss paint.

i think the glossy paint with the bright pink print fabric design*sponge DIY thing is on its deathbed. it was cute in domino for like a week but it's bound to look very dated very soon.

if the wood is in good shape i would sand it down and refinish it. the shape of that chair is beautiful and is worth the effort. and i really like the idea of just using a throw pillow for the back.

I like the glossy idea. I wouldn't do a strong print on the cushion though because the x-s on the backs are so beautiful and strong geometrically. Maybe a solid box constructed cushion with black piping. Very tailored looking. White and black would be nice.

Great chairs. It depends on your decor but they have a mid-century vibe so I wouldn't paint them. Have them refinished with a walnut stain. Then the cushions can be anything, I'd do a rough natural raw silk or bark cloth. I'd also have matching rectangular lumbar pillows made for the back. The side of the two back squares together and about 2" thick. They'll look like a million!