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Good Questions: Is fixing this chair worth it?

2007_06_25_chair2.jpg
Hi AT:SF, The other night as I was walking home, I came across a lovely chair abandoned on a street corner. Granted, the right side was detached, but I quickly grabbed it and carried it a few blocks home. Once I got it inside, I realized that the otherwise easily fixable crack in the arm was missing a chunk of wood (pic below jump).
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2007_06_25_chair-wound.jpg
I even went back in the daylight and looked for the piece, but no dice. Otherwise the chair is in good condition, with a nice shape and very pretty wood.
2007_06_25_chair1.jpg

My question is whether it is worth taking to a furniture repair shop
for mending and perhaps re-covering the mustard vinyl seat. Is this
kind of thing fixable, at a reasonable price? If so, where should I take it, and what should I replace the seat fabric with? I'm considering taking it to Cow Hollow Woodworks for a quote, but I'll have to bum a ride from a friend, so I thought I'd ask here first. Or should the money be better spent on just buying a comparable chair?

Thanks!
-Rachel

Hi Rachel,

We like the chair a lot and think there's a great opportunity here to refurbish it into something really special by fixing the frame and using beautiful upholstery fabric to create a new seat cushion. If you're handy you can re-upholster the seat yourself for less than $50 in materials. (There are some suggestions for upholsterers and fabric sources here and here.)

Chairs in this design vein are easy to find for less than $100 on eBay and at flea markets and vintage furniture stores these days, although they will also have outdated upholstery. You'll ultimately have to make your decision about whether to invest in this chair based on how much you love it -- and on the quotes you receive for fixing the wooden frame.

Anyone else out there have thoughts or ideas on fixing Rachel's chair?

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painting, fixing & repair, Good Questions, furniture repair

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Comments (15)

A DEFINITE KEEPER!!! You'd be hard-pressed to find a comparable chair at a reasonable price, it's gorgeous! I'd look at Danish modern books, and probably use a Marimekko, Panton, or Hable Construction fabric. HAVANNA could be good - check out txtlart.com, esp. the botanicals.

posted by becky on June 25th 2007 at 1:12pm
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What Lisa said. Based on the chairs I've had fixed up, this will cost about $75-150 to repair the wood.

But is it real wood, no veneer? It's hard to tell if that's solid wood or not. If not, trash it.

Personally I wouldn't spend the money on this one as it's not all that unique.

posted by boomer on June 25th 2007 at 1:21pm
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If you want to try your luck on e-bay, this one is very close:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DANISH-MODERN-design-solid-wood-ARM-CHAIR_W0QQitemZ180130968895QQihZ008QQcategoryZ63568QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

posted by boomer on June 25th 2007 at 1:31pm
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I think this is a great chair--as long as you can get the wood repaired so ti won't break when you sit in it. I doubt this reupholstery job needs to be profesional--you just need good, upholstery weight fabric and a staple gun. I love Marimekko and Hable but they can get a bit pricey; try Amy Butler's Forest line:

http://quilthome.com/index.php/cPath/30_405?osCsid=f46b7fe24af46f194ce367fd6b1d297e

posted by Shannon in SF on June 25th 2007 at 2:48pm
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Terrific chair--definitely a keeper!

posted by lala on June 25th 2007 at 4:02pm
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The ebay chair (link above) is still there - 10 bucks plus shipping. It's in great shape and cheaper than repairing this one. This is a no brainer.

posted by boomer on June 25th 2007 at 4:15pm
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Love the chair, great find, unfortunately the break is at a critical point and with the missing wood piece a simple repair isn't easy. It may not be do-able because the structure may not be strong enough, once repaired, to support a typical adult's body weight leaning against it. However disassembling it and replacing that entire section of arm can be done, and should be somewhere from $75 up, not a difficult project for a skilled woodworker (since most of the arm is intact and the other arm duplicates the broken one) but you might try asking around for a hobbyist woodworker rather than a professional. My father was a hobbyist, had a full wood shop in the garage, and often fixed broken furniture for neighbors (worth a try!). As for it being worth the price, to fix it, only you can say. I sure love the style!

posted by Rucy on June 25th 2007 at 4:35pm
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I would definitely try to fix it. I love its swoopy, sculptural style. if this is "common" - - I'm not running into a lot of them.

posted by denise123 on June 26th 2007 at 7:04am
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The ebay link posted isn't nearly as good as this chair.

Get yourself some wood putty, wood glue, stain, varnish and sand paper. I bet you can make it look ok with some time and patience. It won't be as strong as original, but you'll have the satisfaction of having done it yourself AND it'll make for a great story!

"I like you chair!"
"Oh, thank you, I found it on the street and fixed it up myself"
"Wow, how'd you do it"
...and so on :)

posted by Mat on June 26th 2007 at 7:49am
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eBay is chock full of great vintage fabrics too - tons of 'mekko. I think the chair is so cute I might throw it in my room where the only thing that would sit on it would be my clothes. Vera tablecloths can be dreamy for this kind of DIY reupholstery project.

Try contemporarycloth.com as well.

I'm all for freecycling this chair (but not peanut butter...)

Becky

posted by becky on June 26th 2007 at 8:20am
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BTW, don't fall into that eBay trap - THE SHIPPING WAS $123 on average, even if the chair was $9.99

Becky

posted by becky on June 26th 2007 at 8:22am
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Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions for my chair! It's real wood, not veneer, so I think I'll keep it and try to fix it up.

The first thing I noticed about that ebay listing is that the chair isn't nearly as nice as this one, and that the estimated shipping to San Francisco is $135. Yikes! Not nearly as good of a deal as it initially appeared, but thanks for trying.

I am handy, so I was planning on getting a staple gun and doing the seat re-covering myself. Shannon, I was looking at Amy Butler's Forest line as I read your comment--guess I'm on the right track. The other fabric recommendations are really helpful, too.

posted by rachel j on June 26th 2007 at 10:24am
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Definitely you do not want to throw this chair out. At the very least it is a classic midcentury "in the style of" and atthe best it is a classic midcentury original. Did you check for signature or manufacturer's mark underneath. If so, what does it say? Do you know what the wood is? Suggest you do an Ebay search under Antique midcentury danish chair!

posted by glr64 on June 26th 2007 at 10:40am
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p.s. You can also go to your local library and do a little research in books about mid-century furniture! The style is "hot" as you guys say, and highly dfesirable.

Ebay is a good source of research if you check out the serious and authentic dealers in whatever it is you are looking for.

Good luck, and never dump anything until you accurately know exactly what you have.

posted by glr64 on June 26th 2007 at 10:46am
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One more time (sorry I'm multi tasking which should be outlawed--can't think and do more than one thing at a time and do it well!) Anyway, the ebay chair linked above is from one of the most knowledgeable midcentury sellers on Ebay. He starts everything at 9.99 and depending on the desirability of the item, the winning bid will be far above that. This is not a scam' it is a no reserve auction in which the item and the bidders determine the winning cost. A couple of weeks ago the Boston Globe did a feature on a family that was redoing their mid century home in mid century originals for far less than the cost at mid century specialty shops.
I know this is far more information than anyone wanted about your chair, but I am very passionate about making informed decisions!

posted by glr64 on June 26th 2007 at 10:58am
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