Once upon a time, after a little too much Pinterest, it seemed a good idea to have a mismatch of chairs around kitchen the table. Easy & cheap right? Nope. We wanted a mix of half a dozen vintage school / industrial kinda chairs which you would think would be easy enough to curate, though turns out it’s really difficult to get a mix that are different, but have something in common. We decided we’d aim for three pairs rather than singles as these tend to sit together a little easier. The first chair we picked up was this French school chair from Malvern antiques fair, I think we gave about £35 for it which seems about the going rate.
I found a partner for it on Ebay this week, for just £10. Bargain #smugface. Arrived, and erm…yeah…it’s not the same #goddamnit. I’m now on the search for an actual partner, if I’m successful, I’ll sell on the new one, it can stay a while in the meantime.
Sort of following the school chair theme, the second chair we bought was a teachers chair, when we went to collect it I wasn’t overly keen, but after a bit of time, stripping and polishing it’s grown on us. It also occurred to me it could essentially be a carver type chair, so another would be nice, and then they could reside at either end of the table…
Unexpectedly, after a bit of shameless Tweeting I tracked down a partner for him, so I’m now the proud owner of two teachers chairs.
The one on the right is still in Wales, minor detail hey. Both of these cost £15, they need upholstering once fabric is decided, but that’s a whole other post. So that’s four (three technically, but I’m on it) down and two to go…Next I tried a chapel chair in the mix.
I renovated this and love it, but it’s not right at all, it’s too dinky and delicate. It’s destined for a bedroom I think. I’ve also got two of these wiggly back chairs that were my Grandma’s.
My Grandma had them painted white, I’ve stripped off the paint but I’ve still to polish them. They also need recovering, but it will take a good while to strip off all Grandma’s layers of coverings…she was indecisive too. I’ll see what they look like once they are done, but not looking like these will take a part in the line up…oh well, there will be plenty of places to sit in the bedrooms.
LANSDOWNE REVISITED 
Too bad you cannot come over here to look. In New York, I see nice wooden chairs on the curb for the taking all the time. A friend of mine has the best collection of eight bentwood chairs in different styles all that she found on the side of the road for free.
Wowzers, I’ve been known to rescue a few bits from skips here and there, but a set of 8 chairs is a good find!!
They are not technically a set. Each chair is different, but they look great together. It took her a couple of years to collect all eight.
I hope my collection doesn’t take two years, it’s annoying me! Have a good week.
I loved how you wrote your grandma was indecisive. I’m all about mix and match. It’ll be stunning.
She certainly was! I hope so, and if not, then there’s always Ebay…
I think a mix is lots more interesting than a set. And Dottie is such a cute model!
She’s getting big! See how much she’s grown between the photos?!
I found a chair like the first one in my barn but I had to throw it out because the wood was severely damaged. 😦 I think if all the chairs are painted the same color they will look lovely. I am a matchy type of person. Mismatching unnerves me to no end LOL. For me they would either have to all be the same chairs in different colors or all different chairs in the same color. I am interested to see how this turns out! I am sure it will be great
I’m less and less sure that mismatching is a good idea, though sure it will work eventually…probably.
Well sometimes its best to ahead with the plan and you might be pleasantly suprised. i went in my local thrift store and for the first time i saw loads of school chairs. I thought about you lol
Ha! I wish I would see some locally! Hunting fabric for cushions for them this weekend, wish me luck!!
Hey… Just left a comment about sanding floors.
I appreciate the challenge over chairs. We inherited a set when we bought the house. They are a set but it would appear that most of them were held together by bits of wood and dots of glue. We wanted to keep them as they reflected a bit of history so we decided to renovate them. About two weeks later having gone back to my dads work shop and used his tools and experience we reassembled the final chair. I am sure in terms of time and money it would have been cheaper to go to a shop and buy a new set but I guess part of all our missions is to keep a bit of the past going and waste less. Love the blogs although I feel like I am not matching the style quality and design of this blog and commentators blogs on here.
Totally, I’m obsessed with selling my old ‘new’ furniture and then replacing it with better quality, better designed and cheaper vintage replacements, what I’d do without ebay I just don’t know!! Don’t be daft re the blog, we all love our houses and however we choose to share our trials and tribulations is unimportant, just so long as we do, as I think we’d all go slightly mad otherwise!
Hello! Love the chairs! Especially the chapel chair :0) We too have mismatched chairs and I think it gives the room visual interest. As long as they match each other in one small way it keeps things cohesive. Too bad you weren’t in Canada…I have 18 old dining chairs of different types in my garage…don’t ask me why but I have a bit of an attraction to chairs! Ha ha :0)
Have a great day!
Smiles!
Terry
I have relatives in Canada, so it’s not out of the question I’ll root around your garage one of these days… I’m literally banned from buying any more chairs to work on. It’s almost out of control… Is your set on your blog? I’d like to see them… X
I’m temporarily banned from chairs as well…lol! I’ve been told by my husband that I need to get rid of some before I’m allowed to bring any more into the house ha ha! I haven’t posted on them but I really should as there are some that have a bit of character to them. I love unique items with age and history!
Have a great week!
Terry
I think mine may be a permanent ban… Sobs x
I’d love you to post about them!