A Tale of Two Mid-Century Chairs

Thank you again for joining me for my Mad for Mad Men series.  I have had so much fun sharing the tutorials of so many great creative bloggers!  On this last day of the series, it is my turn to share my Mad Men-inspired project.  If you have seen the Timeline cover photo on the Mad in Crafts facebook page, you already got a sneak peak at this project!

I recently acquired two mid-century chairs for cheap.  If you search thrift stores and garage sales (or dig through old family furniture), you will likely come across chairs similar to these.

I spotted this chair in our garage covered in random garage crap.  The chair had been left there by someone who lived here before we did.

I dug it out to have a closer look.  Those angled legs are a giveaway that it was mid-century style, but I didn’t know if it was real or an imitation.

The best way to check a chair’s pedigree is to look under the seat.  For instance, I found out that this chair had once been used in my high school’s library. 😛

But, on closer inspection, I also found this.  The money shot!

Depending on the condition of the chairs and how many you have (matching sets are a plus), Herman Miller chairs will fetch you a decent price on eBay.

If you find Herman Miller chairs at thrift stores or garage sales, snap them up.  People often don’t know that their old “plastic” chair is a collectible.  Oh, and if you ever find a chair marked “Eames,” BUY IT!  Throw elbows, if necessary.  Even if you don’t want it, send it to me!

This Herman Miller chair isn’t really plastic; the shell is made of fiberglass.  Depending on the condition of the chair, you may need to refinish or clean the shell.  Don’t use anything super abrasive because fiberglass isn’t something you want to get in your lungs.

To really clean/restore the finish, you would need to apply a wax or paint conditioner to the fiberglass.  To just remove surface dirt and cobwebs, a simple microfiber rag and some vinegar water does the trick. 

Since the chair is collectible and in good shape, that is all I chose to do with it.

I found this chair at a local thrift store for $4.99.  The silhouette tipped me onto the fact that it was likely from the 50s or 60s.

I flipped the chair over to look for any clues about its age or maker.  Apparently Daystrom was serious about branding their furniture!

There was no year or model given, but after doing some online searching I found an ad that showed a chair similar to this that was made in 1958.  I didn’t find anything that indicated that the chair was worth selling.

There was some discoloration to the seat and backrest of the chair, but the vinyl was in pretty good shape overall.

The metal supports had a bit of rust on them.  And, of course, the previous owner’s mailing address.  My grandpa had address labels on a lot of his furniture too.  🙂

After wiping the chair down with my vinegar/water mixture, I decided to paint the legs and add some mod stripes to the seat and backrest.  I thought that it would be a neat way to update the chair without losing all of its vintage charm.

After taking the chair apart, I taped off the stripes and the gold caps on the tops of the metal bars.

I used plastic bags to cover the larger areas of the seat and backrest and sprayed it all in Rustoleum’s Painter’s Touch gloss white.

I put on a coat of the spray paint and waited for it to dry.  And waited.  And waited.  AND WAITED.

After over an hour of dry time, the paint was still tacky to the touch.

So tacky, in fact, that what I touched the paint to check if it was dry, a whole section of paint pulled off the metal!  I was really bummed.  The whole thing was a hot mess.  So much for the Rustoleum.

I ended up using a paint scraper to scrape off as much of the paint as I could, which ended up all over the deck.  I then repainted the chair using my trusty Krylon Dual.  So much better!

I really like the way the chair turned out!  The stripes are a fun mod touch, but the colors are neutral enough that I can use the chair in any room.

The curve of the chair made making the stripes perfectly straight tricky, but I don’t think any one will notice any mismatches.

The stripes even continue around to the back of the chair.  They look like racing stripes to me.  Don’t they make the chair look fast?

I am glad that gold is trendy again, because I really like the touch of shine at the top of the white bars.

With the exception of the first spray paint debacle, the chair makeover was really simple with great results!

Because I am a nerd, I did a little Mad in Crafts-style Draping on my new mid-century chairs.  Eat your heart out, Don.

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