Had I seen it the same time you did, I probably would have fought you over it! lol. That chair has a lot of potential and I can't wait to see it when it's finished.

I had a chair similar to it years ago and it was very comfy to sit in.

I have the cousin to your chair. Mine was abandoned and left to fend for itself. I took it in, cleaned it, stained it and recovered it.

It turned out to be a very nice chair and we have made good use of it.

Yours will be a beauty when you're done with it.

What are people thinking when they throw perfectly good furniture away?

holy cow !! That is a BEAUTY !!! Well that does it...it is going to the upholsterer where the Morris chair is staying. Will have 2 great chairs I guess for DH's Father's day !

oakleyok...I bet we would have had a time of it...mine...no MINE !! haha...THANK YOU for the vote of confidence...DH thinks I am bats LOL. c

It sure looks like it has potential. Mona's is a beauty. How nice to be able to see it done already!

Hi Caroline, How lucky for you to find that chair.I can't wait to see how you fix it up.

I would have snatched that one up too!

Great find! I can't wait to see it refinished!

Lucky girl!
Ck the front brace I see wood pegs showing on right side & chipped wood on left - something i'm sure that would be an easy fix

Can't wait to see you work your magic!

you have to share when its finished! but I actually love it already LOL

Just wonderful that you rescued this poor abandoned chair! It will be lovely! :)

Can't wait to see the photos of the "After" chair(s)

Jan

A dear friend of my mother's found mine at a yard sale in New Mexico 25 years ago. She called me to come over and take a look. It was just about as beat up as yours, and upholstered in a deep blue almost navy fabric, very worn. I paid my $5 and brought it home, and then, moved it out to California a few years later. About 10 years ago, I fell in love with tapestry fabric and had it covered in this to match a recliner I also had done. I am thinking about a neutral, perhaps in another velvet to work with my other chair?

Red

Oh wow Red that is a great looking chair.

Yep jet there are a few pegs showing but they don't seem to affect the essential sturdiness. I will make sure they are re-glued. What fun !! DH still thinks I am bats LOL. My neighbor, that gave me the 3 floor lamps that I redid ,also saw it but didn't stop as he usually doesn't pick up stuff that needs fixin' ( that is what we say in Alabama .) He was stunned when he saw it in my carport...since moved to keep anyone else from seeing the potential LOL. He already is impressed. Pics of both chairs by Father's Day .

Thank you ALL for the great response...I was hoping....but I knew you guys would really know what to do . I appreciate it. c

Count me as another who thinks the chair you found is a great find!!! It has good bones and tons of potential !!!

Looking forward to seeing your creation !!!

janice

Thank you wallis...one more vote to help convince DH that I haven't gone completely over the edge LOL. c

OMG! I have that exact same chair. Got it in about the exact same condition too. I paid $25 for mine almost 15yrs ago and have toted it from house to house in that condition ever since. DH finally took pity on it and refinished it for me last yr. I'm still mulling over fabric choices for it.

Great find! I love the lamp next to it also.

Good eye!
I'd think about a thorough cleaning and re-staining of the wood, instead of RAF, to get the best results, but I don't think you can go wrong. I usually get every scrap of fabric off and do all the work on the wood before sending something to the upholsterer, but I'm sure you already know that...

Will love to see the final result!

Here's one I did last year...it came out of an old state office building, and was an unpleasant, featureless mid-toned wood with green vinyl upholstery.
I bought it for $15 or $20, painted it black, and had the upholsterer use a leather remnant I had from another project. There wasn't quite enough of it, so I added a heavy tapestry fabric for the back. It's still a simple, inglorious chair, but fine for our home office.
(And it's considerably less orange than it seems in the photo...really a rich warm brown.)

Awesome chair! I can't wait to see it refinished.

yes Mona that lamp is wonderful !!

Bronwynsmom: what a fantastic chair. you were so smart to cover it with the leather. I am thinking about that also as DH wants this for in his office.
ttodd...any chance of a pic of your rescued chair ? would love to see. c

That lamp belonged to my grandparents and it was purchased in NY maybe around the 1910's. I love it and I'm happy you noticed it in a positive way.

Oh, I love rags to riches, trash to treasure stories! I think after all her years of hard work and all the poor ol' girl has been through, she deserves a total makeover plus a facelift, don't you? I'd paint her wood, and give her a big fat foam seat cusion. I wouldn't hesitate to look for needlepoint, or pillows or whatever on eBay to cut up to put on her. I'd be happy to paint her upholstery too, if the mood struck me. Because her wood isn't ornately carved (although I agree with you I love the arms on it), I might do her in very splashy colorful or animal print fabric. Here are some artistic ideas to get you thinking not just "nice" but "spectacular"...

Does that get your creative juices flowing?

oh oceanna...one of us is going to have to MOVE closer to the other ! You have such talent...while I have NADA. I hadn't even thought about painting her. You know me and purple...you just had to show me that :) I will have to see what we come up with. No call from my guy so will drop by his shop tomorrow...he probably has run away after seeing the photos LOL. c

Oceanna, where did you find those fabulous things...

The range is fantastic...from utterly delightful to Perfecly Awful! I am mad for the gold-blue-candelabra one, and the overstuffed pink thing is truly the stuff of nightmares! And don't get me started on the schizophrenic black and white one...
There really is satisfaction for every taste, isn't there!!

And.. how do you get photos from an internet source into a post? Or did you somehow scan them into your computer...? I am pretty much a technodolt, so whatever you can impart would be appreciated.

Trailrunner, are you going to go for the purple? Yes you can paint the chair any color you like, including metallics. You're paying someone to do the chair for you? It's a very easy job to do yourself. This one doesn't even require any sewing. Here's how, if you're wondering:

Take the back off carefully, and see how it's put together with cardboard tack strips. I'd go to the fabric store and pick out the fabric and buy new tack strips. Take the chair and have them cut out new foam for the seat and for the back for you. They should know what you should do about padding, and they'll show you how much fabric you need too. Also buy decking fabric for the underside of the chair. If you prefer, you can have your professional upholsterer sell you the padding if he's willing.

Then I'd go to the paint store/hardware store and have the paint computer-matched to the color you want in the fabric.

Then lightly sand the chair and paint it with a couple of coats. I'd cover it with a couple of coats of polyurethane too, to make your paint job very strong. Then peel-and-stick put protective pads on the feet bottoms (from hardware store).

Next, use the back and front pieces of fabric as patterns to cut out your new fabric and leave a generous tuck under allowance (you can always trim, but you can't add). Wrap the front fabric around, pulling it good and snug, and staple-gun it to the back. Using the tack strips and a hammer (rubber mallet if you have one, but a hammer works) pound on your chair backing, pulling it tight.

Now wrap the seat fabric very snug and tack it under the bottom of the chair with your staple gun. You will need to do a little cutting and tucking to get around those legs but it's easy.

Staple the decking fabric to cover the underside of the seat, giving it a nice professionally finished look.

You're done! AND you're proud of your accomplishments. :o)

But if you're more rich and busy than poor and determined, then pay the guy. lol!

There is a link for you at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

~~

Bronwynsmom, I just find them snooping the 'net.

There really is satisfaction for every taste, isn't there!!

Yep. It's all in the eye of the beholder. I think a good designer can make almost anything look fabulous by surrounding it with the right things and colors. (That "almost anything" excludes a lot of CL listings, though -- lol!)

The "overstuffed pink thing" you're calling the stuff of nightmares is a McKenzie-Childs chair. The price on it is $4,350. The one you dubbed the "schitzophrenic black and white one" is another McKenzie-Childs, and it sells for $3,500.

The blue chair you love is from the British Jimmie Martin furniture collection. Jimmie Karlsson & Martin Nihlmar own that company and they are both young, so look for much more from them. I'm not sure if that's leather or satin on that chair, but one could stencil or paint the candleabra on. I've seen people paint old worn out leather chairs and that can look very good. So if you want that chair, watch for something on your CL in an old worn out leather, and have fun painting it. :o)

The bulldog chair above is a Jimmie Martin too, I think, as is the British flag chair. Here are some more Jimmie Martin chairs. The price on these is 4,000 pounds. When I'm looking at stuff in Great Britain on eBay, I always double the price in my mind, so this would be $8,000. That's not accurate, but it's not far off.

Here are Jimmie Karlsson & Martin Nihlmar:

And.. how do you get photos from an internet source into a post?

I right-click the photo I find on the 'net and save it to my computer in a special folder I made for it. Then I use http://tinypic.com to put it in my post. "Browse" and find and select your picture that's stored on your machine. Double click it. Upload it. Then a new page comes up and under the heading "Links to Share" simply copy the top url into your post. Easy. No muss, no fuss, no having to get an account.

Here is a link that might be useful: purple chairs for Trailrunner

Love those inspiration chairs, Oceanna! I've been trying to find just the perfect chair for a corner of my living room. I have something in my head but, of course, can't find anything like it in real life.

I think I'll just make my own!

Hmmm....let's try this...
With any luck, a purple chair will appear...

Hah!
It's tiny, but it's there!

Thank you, Oceanna.

MONA I WANT THAT LAMP, OH MY GOODNESS IT IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. Can we see a full picture of it?

.....Jane

Certainly. I'm not sure if it's onyx or marble. Perhaps someone here can tell. It holds 2 bulbs that turn on/off with pull chains.

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

Oh my...and you actually make it sound doable. What have i got to lose ?? I may just go for it. I haven't heard a word from my upholsterer. What better way to learn than to try. You are really an inspiration...thank you Oceanna. :) c

Pugga, aren't those chairs fun? Go for it! Please be sure to take before and after pictures for us. (I always forget to take before pics.) We would love to see what you do.

Bronwynsmom, yeah that's teensy weensy! hehe

Oh, Mona, that is exquisite.

Trailrunner, really it is not rocket science. It's just a matter of taking it apart and putting it back together the same way it came apart. This is an easy starter chair, with no sewing, no springs to tie, you only have to handle small bits of fabric, and the price was free. So you're right, what do you have to lose?

Try to look for a fabric store where the ladies will be helpful and knowlegable, and ask them lots of quetsions. I'd take it apart first, sand and paint it and have it as clean as possible, then just haul the whole thing (plus the pieces you took off it) to the store. I've been known to bop around a fabric store dragging a large chair behind me -- lol -- I'm sure I wasn't the first. Calico Corners is great if you have one. A bit spendy, but not as bad as paying someone to do the whole thing and probably has some very knowlegable help. More cost effective is Joann Fabric. You can always phone first and ask if they have an expert at upholstery working there and when she will be on duty. The hardest part of upholstery, I think, is getting things pulled tightly at the same time you hammer or staple that down... so enlist DH to help with that and you should come out with lovely results. (The problem with doing it alone is you sometimes need three or four hands.)

BTW, I've used the metal tack strips and the cardboard ones, and I like the cardboard ones a lot better. They're more flexible if you need to curve a bit, and they're easy to cut shorter wherever you want. Just don't forget and sit on either one!

I hope you take lotsa pictures!

OK I am gonna look into this...and don't worry you will get pics and LOTS of long distance phone calls !! What is the time difference ????? c

Haha! Where are you again? I'm on Pacific Standard Time and we're on daylight savings right now, though I don't know why because it's light so late as it is.

Hey, good luck with it. I think you'll have fun. If you're not happy with what you did, you can always have the upholsterer fix it up. But I think if you try you're going to finish it and be very proud of yourself. Then you'll have a new skill and I suppose you'll be driving neighborhoods looking for freebies day afer day. lol!

Have you started?

No,,,I had ordered over 50 plants from 2 different places and they are all here. We then decided that we want to go to NYC to hear music and see my brother...I went 4 times last summer...so I have to get all the plants in the ground and then get my plant sitter to agree to baby them. I have to do all the digging...and in the middle of this weekend I suddenly got very high blood pressure...so now I am on a new med for that and still needing to plant and plan for our trip...is that enough of an excuse LOL ???

I am glad I waited though...after seeing the fantastic job that pugga did I am mulling possibilities. I am a slow mover....don't give up on me :) c