 |
| Mid2Mod Set #1 |
 |
| Mid2Mod Set #2 |
 |
| Mid2Mod Set #3, currently listed on V&M |
I love the rich wood, the wonderful nubby upholstery, the subtle sheen on the iron legs. So you can imagine my reaction when I saw these:
To add insult to injury, here's how the dealer described them:
Mid Centuty <sic> "Eames" Chair
USA
Mid Century
Funky mid-century "Eames" lounge chair in black upholstery and reed <sic> lacquers <sic> wood.
It looks as if someone hit the frame a quick lick with some flat black paint, threw some cotton fabric on the seats (which appears to be fraying underneath) and slapped some red paint on that gorgeous wood.
Now don't get me wrong. I know I'm not the sole arbiter of good taste, and I'm not completely against painting furniture. I realize that there are some pieces that have been too badly abused and are too far gone to restore, and I know some people like "funky"...but this broke my heart.
Tell me it will be OK...that someone will love them and give them a good home, in spite of the fact that they've been tarted up like Julia Roberts before her makeover in Pretty Woman.
Look away Dana, there's nothing you can do for this pair. Save the future Shell chairs from this abuse. Educate!
ReplyDeleteYes, I need to accept that I can't cure what's ailing those two chairs, but maybe this post will save others from the same fate!
DeleteOh my goodness, painting beautiful wood and steel like that is a sin!! It hurts to see the poor unfortunate "Julia Roberts" in such a condition! The strange things people do...
ReplyDeleteSeeing wood and steel in that condition really almost makes me ill. And red, at that!
DeleteStep away from the monitor Dana...take a deep breath...someone will find these and restore them to their former beauty.
ReplyDeleteYou've given me hope that someone will rescue them and make them beautiful again!
DeleteDana, my heart clenches sometimes too! I posted my Hey-Wake buffet that hubby restored after being sponge painted. There is no accounting for some folks taste. Hopefully they find a "restorative" home.
ReplyDeleteOh, my...sponge painted furniture? See, just when I thought it couldn't be any worse, I find out it actually could have been. I'm so glad you and your husband rescued your buffet.
DeleteThe seller should've left the wood alone and played with the upholstery instead.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, if they wanted color, they could have done all kinds of things with the upholstery, and that would have been an easy fix for any buyer. There are two perfect examples in the February issue of Dwell...one with turquoise upholstery and one with red, but the wood and steel are gorgeous.
DeleteThis is one of the saddest post I've seen you do! We can only hope someone recognizes their great potential and restores them. My husband and I, just this week, purchased a Brasila round dining table and chair set in fair condition from an on-line auction and ended up paying a little more than we'd planned to keep it from it's potentail fate. We believed the other person bidding to be a "painter" based on other items she'd purchased. We confirmed the painting part at pick-up....she only wanted the chairs and had no idea what it was!? Now it can be restored to it's original beauty and we will enjoy it for many years.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you were willing to spend a little more and save them from "the painter." Enjoy your beautiful dining set in good health!
DeleteWriting this sitting in my natural wood Ib Kofod-Larsen chair. Two beautiful chairs in the Feb. issue of Dwell magazine, page 86.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was just telling someone about those very chairs in an earlier comment.
DeleteYou really need to start blogging so you can show us all your great vintage pieces!
Ouch!! I know if they came my way, I would have to give this a redo and hopefully whoever picks them up does as well. So sad to see in this state...
ReplyDeleteIt really does hurt your eyes...and your heart...to look at them. I wish you had them, because I know you'd make them beautiful again. A Richard Gere to their Julia Roberts, if you will. :)
DeleteThere, there Dana the sun has not yet set on these chairs! "tarted up like Julia Roberts..." Oh how I adore you! :D
ReplyDeletehaha Glad you liked my Pretty Woman reference. :)
DeleteI saw a pair of walnut Kofod-Larsen lounges that had been painted black, or as they put it "lovingly ebonzied." Almost died.
ReplyDelete"Lovingly ebonized" with black paint is hideous enough...but RED?????? OMG, it makes me want to set my hair on fire!!!
DeleteWe had all three pairs of ours refinished professionally and decided to go with a different wood tone on each one. Set #3 is very dark...but definitely not painted black. (The sound you hear is me, grinding my teeth!)
Do not, I repeat, do not set your hair on fire. As I've seen you have already blown a retro gasket, flaming hair (matching said offending chairs) would be a mid-century disaster (equal only in comparison to, of course, the chairs).
ReplyDeleteI guess you're right. If I had flaming hair, the chairs would still be red. :(
Delete