AT,
I purchased some vintage Saarinen Tulip chairs and a Saarinen Tulip table base. They all need to be repainted/refinished. I'm going to use the set as a card/games table. My room is fairly traditional. I feel glossy white or glossy black are a bit too mod. Would Chinese lacquer red be too much? Also this year, Knoll is making them in platinum. I was also thinking about painting them bronze or pewter.
I'm thinking about making a slate top for the base...
There is no way to escape the mod-ness if tulip chairs. Don't paint them some rediculous color or the will stand out even more. Black and white usually blend into most color schemes without a problem and keeping them neutral will draw less attention to the fact that the don't match the rest of your decor.
view erinorea's profile
I actually think red would be really fun if the paint job was done well. They'll still look mod, but maybe carry over some of the other themes in your house.
Good luck and share pictures when you're finished.
view brittanykate's profile
eeeek...i think keeping all the bases and chairs white would be the best way to go. a slate top sounds gorgeous, but pairing that with a wacky color might be too much...
what about keeping them white, making a fabulous slate top, and picking out a really strong fabric for the chairs?
view my little apartment's profile
i'm for red. a design that iconic can handle a little messing around. no problem. go for it!
view lindsey kathlene's profile
First of all, if the set has to be repainted, you're in for a long haul to do it correctly. Those are coated with rislan, a THICK, rubberized coating, not regular paint. Sure, you could just paint right over the rislan. And all the chips, cracks, etc are going to stand out, just as they do now. To do this right, you've got to take them to a powder coater and have them sand blast the old rislan off and have them powder coat the chairs. Oh, and that's just the bases...the seats would have to be exactly matched to the color you want to coat the bases. That's assuming there are no cracks in the fiberglass...if there are, you need to have the gelcoat attended to as well.
Second, I've seen sets that people have painted red, green, and other other colors in an ill-conceived attempt at covering up the deteriorating finish. It's not pretty, trust me.
Leave the set white. Go over them with a acetone and a cloth (carefully). You'll be surprised at how much nicer that dulled-yellowish finish will turn out. If it has cracks, chips, etc, consider having a pro do them for you...and do it in a white that's close to the original color.
Unless you plan on putting green felt on the top of the table.
fm
view Fungus Mungus's profile