We intend to do the work ourselves. However, my wife has talked with an upholsterer to ask whether dining chair seats are usually glued, as well as screwed on. He says that they are not usually glued, and has offered to look at the chair to see whether the seat can be removed by tapping it with a mallet, now that the screws have been removed. We've only tried one chair at this point. It may be that the other seats will come out just fine.

Those are pretty chairs! It does seem they're meant to be an inch or two from the floor based on the pictures on the website. I think it looks nice and the legs are pretty peeking out. The slipcovers on my Cecil dining chairs from Calico Corners are floor length, but they have a more tailored skirt, with pleats and crinoline. I like them floor length (even though the legs are a nice antique oak finish) but it was more important to me that they were both the exact same length (one of my OCD issues). One of them appeared to be much shorter and uneven on the bottom, so much that I hauled them both back to Calico Corners after they were delivered. The employees pulled on it trying to even it out, took pictures and agreed that one was shorter in the front, so they sent a seamstress to pick the chair up at my home to make a new slipcover. Imagine how embarassed I was when she came to my home, went right over to the chair, lifted up the removable seat cushion, and adjusted the slipcover to pull it out of the back crevice so that it was then perfectly even and floorlength! It was tucked in there so tightly that simply pulling on it didn't work, but the slip was meant to be adjusted for those who didn't care for them so long. Are yours adjustable at all? It doesn't seem like it from the photos but I didn't think mine were either. You might want to ask if the material was preshrunk if you're planning on laundering them at home. I'm not sure if they'd get shorter in the dryer since they're 50% cotton (I have no experience in washing slipcovers though.)

Maybe I can give you some information from a different perspective... In my business I repair many kinds of woven seats like cane, Danish cord, splint, Caning and of course Rush seats. Of all the ones that I re-do, Rush by far outlasts the others hands down. In the past, newspapers used to be stuffed between the layers of rush. When ever those come in it is a great window into the past. The Newspapers tell where a chair was most likely last rushed and most often you can find a date on the newspaper giving a pretty good idea when it was done. Plus the old papers are a fun vision to times past. I have pulled our papers from the late 1800's, and many many from the early 1900's. So yes I would definitely say Rush lasts. However cats with claws often help bring me new business! To check out more look at my page on Rush http://www.acaneandwickerfixer.com/rush_seats.htm See My Rush Chair Page Randy Here is a link that might be useful: Rush

Beautiful room! I love the combination seating you have but if you decide to not use the bench for some reason then I would suggest 2 more black Windsor side chairs and just use the parsons at the head and foot of the table. I have white upholstered chairs at the head and foot of my RH salvaged pine trestle table and wood side chairs with slips only on the seats. I love this look - the linen slips are a nice, soft contrast to the rustic table. I was also considering black Windsor side chairs for my table but wasn't sure and then found my chairs on sale at Shabby Chic. I fell in love with them because they're so pretty but DH is not a fan due to comfort. He would have preferred the Windsor chairs. Looking at your photos, I can see they would have looked great! Can you share where you found your sign and clock hanging on the walls? I need to find some interesting wall decor!