I gushed about my Klismos desk chair finally being finished and lookin’ pretty gorgeous last Friday and today I grabbed some pictures to show him off! We bought two of these chairs for a great price on the other side of Paris and dragged them back home on public transportation but they needed a lot of work. They had been coated in (what seemed like) three-inches of brittle, cracked varnish. It was like the chair had been dipped in really strong Jolly Rancher liquid and it took me forever to get it all off. It cost me a lot too: a lot of joint angst over the following days. But once I got it all cleaned up and put a coat of satin black paint and a new black velvet seat on, I couldn’t believe the transformation.
Above is the chair after I managed to get everything off it, including the dirty and water-stained old vinyl seat covering. See all those little dark spots on the seat frame? That’s how many old staples I pried out. Ouch.
And who better to demonstrate the chair’s strong-but-sexy (dare I say James Bond-like? Yes, I dare.) lines but Albert? Work it Bug! Look at those curves. The chair lives at my desk which is next to the kitchen so I can see it in profile when I glance over while cooking. Seriously, did you see those legs in the first picture?! Sexy. I love it. And I’m so glad it’s done!
Just had to share it with you. But I’ll be back tomorrow with a recipe that I trying to use to ward off the endless Paris drizzle. Are you keeping dry?
xo,
A.
egg & dart 
Beautiful! And I’m so impressed that you saw the chair’s potential and knew how to fix it. You should teach classes about flea-market hunting and restoration (I would take one!).
Ohhh, now that is a dangerous idea! Brain wheels turning. 🙂 (and thank you!!)
Hard work, but so satisfying and such beautiful results. Bravo! A word of caution — don’t start going to auctions and buying every broken-down chair that looks like it has potential like I did!!! The “cave” will be full in no time.
Thank you and too late. Actually, the cave is fine. Just don’t open the door. 😉 Now that I think about it, I can blame it all on you two!
Wow! Impressive. I always have admired the people that can see a chair that’s near the end and have such a wonderful vision to turn it around. I am not that person, but love seeing your photos with what you did!
Thank you! I think I may drive my husband a bit nuts seeing “potential” everywhere. 😉