The day I after I bought a Paul McCobb desk off of Craigslist, I found these beautiful chairs for $25 for two.
The previous owner said she bought them used in the late 60s for her office. Since then, they’ve traveled the US with her. She retired and no longer needed them.
They’re unmarked so I have no idea who made them (and I, along with my bestie Jen, have spent HOURS searching for more info on them). Methinks that’s a mystery that may not be solved. They have a strong resemblance to Heywood Wakefield pieces of the era but I can’t find conclusive proof that that’s who put them out. They’re in pretty good shape for their age. There’s a few spots where the fabric loosened from the frame (probably because the glue lost it’s stickiness after 60 years). The previous owner’s solution was to tap in nailhead trim, which makes me die a slow painful death. I’m still trying to decide how I want to rectify that situation. One of my friends has done reupholstery work in the past and, like everything else she does, was amazeballs at it. I’m going to pick her brains on the best way to remove the nailhead trim and reattach the loose fabric so that I can maintain the original integrity of the chairs. The fabric is in terrific shape, just loose from the frame.
Then comes the really hard decision…to sell or not to sell?
Jer votes sell. As I’ve said before, his idea of vintage is last year’s Pottery Barn line up. :) The more I work with them, sit in them…the more I triple heart love them. Especially the emerald green velvet fabric. Everything feels classier in emerald green velvet.
What to do…what to do…?
I guess we’ll just work on getting them cleaned up and then see where things fall. But, if you felt inclined to share your opinion as to whether or not we should keep them in the comments, I’d listen!
Full disclosure: only votes to keep them will be approved. Any votes to not keep them, thus siding with my husband, will be deleted. :) A dishonest victory is still a victory! (Marriage is all about winning afterall.)
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Bestie says keep :)
Keep only if you have a place in your home for them that is worthy of their beauty! What gorgeous chairs!
Because you don’t want to end up on Hoarders amirite??
Jen – you are a bad influence. :)
Des – that’s my problem! I actually now have five – FIVE – chairs that I’ve purchased recently off of CL to refurbish and sell. I love them all but, if I keep them, I will be a hoarder for sure.
They will probably be cleaned up and sent on to a new home. :)
[...] props: check. (Vintage chair, set precisely in afore mentioned [...]