I'll try to help with the images....

Older chair you already bought:

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Chairs from CL:
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um I think not matching fabric but perhaps coordinating- and a pillow out of the same fabric as the antique chairs on the modern one. And make the fabric on the antique chairs a hip 2 crisp green and white updated modern design like those in Elle Decor mag. Maybe even paint the wood on the chairs glossy white to go with the modern fabric. This would make the antiques a focal point and the modern chair the sidekick ( you could always strip them at a later time)

Love them ALL. They will work perfectly, since you're planning on covering up the chair legs on the more modern chair with a skirt. They will look beautiful together! GO GET THEM!!! (Are they a good deal?)

P.S. It might be more interesting to use different fabrics for them--but I've seen groupings of chairs, all reupholstered in the same fabric, and it looks great. :)

LKplatow, thank you!

cooperbailey, those are great ideas. I'd love to adapt them to our more subdued style. I tend to do creamy neutrals on walls and furniture, and add color with pillows, curtains, bedding... so for upholstery I was either thinking of tan or beige velvet (boring, I know) or a Sunbrella linen tweed like one of the lighter fabrics on the page linked below. But I was going to do punchier accent pillows depending on the bedding I chose. I really like, and am thinking of buying, the Dwell Studio Regency bedding collection at Target (can't post the darn pic, sorry!), so maybe I'd do some aqua/geometric pillows along the Regency lines.

And now let me try out another idea. Part of me says it'll be smarter and easier to just do each chair all in one classic, simple fabric. (DH will want to do this, for sure, and will think I'm nuts to even suggest what I'm about to propose....) The thing is, I also love the way Domino magazine does two-tone upholstery jobs, esp with using modern fabrics on older pieces. I wonder how those older chairs would look in two related colors, both neutrals (say, beige and mocha), one on the "inside" of the chair where you sit and another on the outside? Or is that hopelessly trendy, and will I hate it five years from now?

Organic, thanks for the good karma, especially given your amazing recent Craigslist finds. I have to admit you were my inspiration! But: I was actually going to take that skirt *off*, not keep it on. If the legs aren't an integral part of the frame, I can swap them out for something airier. At the least, though, I'd refinish them in walnut stain. (I will also refinish the exposed wood on the older chairs, darkening it to walnut, so it matches our bed.)

And yes, the older chairs are a great deal: $175 for the set, so $87 or so apiece. (the more modern chair was a whopping $25 at the local Restore.) I seem to be the only person interested right now, so she might even knock the price down further...

OK, this is a novel, and I'm supposed to be working! (:

Here is a link that might be useful: sunbrella

I've got sectional that has similar lines to your chair - with a skirt, upholstered in a yellowish chenille, and another chair that was my DIL's grandmother's chair, with carved legs and upholstered in a burgundy plush. They look great together.

On the modern chair, unless the skirt really is a skirt, when you remove it, you'll probably uncover raw wood, not at all of furniture grade. I'd cover the legs of the modern chair, rather than mix straight and fancy legs.

Suero, what would you think if the actual legs on the modern chair were about the same width as those of the older chairs? The chair I bought isn't quite as blocky as the pic above, and the legs are actually tapered and slenderer than you'd expect under the skirt.

If this is going into a bedroom, I'd minimize the number of legs. Billy Baldwin, who was a decorator god, held that too many legs give a restless feeling.

Oh, well. We raced over to see them, but they're not very comfortable, and we're not crazy about the carving etc on the legs and back trim, although that would probably look better with a simpler fabric on the chairs, and refinished in a darker tone.

They could probably be made more comfortable with more upholstery foam, though. Also, the current upholstery job is kind of ugly: instead of just an embroidered border, the upholsterer used those pseudo-nailhead things. So maybe I'm being distracted by that.

Do you think a good upholstery job could fix these problems? Am I giving up on them too easily? (We *never* see chairs like this on our Craigslist!) Would it be hideously expensive, do you think?

Walkin, I have a bergere chair that I bought years ago and it's upholstery has 'cat scratch fever' so I've always intended to have it re-done. The two estimates that I've had have each been over $350 and those are both from guys who have done other stuff for me. If you love them, get them and pay to have them done. Don't do two fabrics. I love that look too, when it's done well and with taste, but I also sew and have many a time, picked out a fabric for a dress pattern and not liked it nearly as well as the one the designer pictured on the package. Get something that will wear well and work with your next Room Re-painting.

I like your style and both chairs. Will they all work together? Probably. Depends on the fabrics you choose and the rest of the room.

Did I ever tell you that I used to live in Alamogordo?

Red

Red, how funny! Were you or your spouse at Holloman? When were you there?

I'm hugely flattered that you say you like my style: I've been admiring yours for years. Thanks.

In the end, I am just not sure I love these chairs enough to spend $700 on them. I *do* love the modern chair, so that's worth it to me. I'll go on looking for other chairs to work in that space along with it, so I'll probably post again about upholstery fabrics...

But on a related decorating note, thanks to the good advice from this forum, I just tested 8 different BM neutrals on our wall, and am guessing we'll go with Bone White (a deep off-white, and in our dark room, it's almost a latte color). Slowly but surely, it will all come together!