the chairs

So, when we first moved into the house, Bram and I realized that we would be needing more chairs; for the living room, for the fireplace room, for whatever. So last summer I, um, acquired two office "guest" chairs (perhaps you remember this photo with one of them?). I thought I'd refinish + reupholster them, and they could be our new living room chairs. Bram, wisely, nixed that idea. They're comfortable enough, but not exactly what you'd want to settle into to watch a couple hours of Battlestar Galactica or anything. But they're helpful to have around as extra seating. So what to do with them?



Here, I've taken the back panel off one. Reupholstering would be pretty easy — there's no sewing involved. Bram kinda likes the turquoise color, and I think it's ok, too. But the probably-at-least-25-year-old-vinyl? Ick. I don't think I could ever get all those little crevices clean enough. Plus, I'd also want to put new foam in them. (They really need it — we used them for a while in the fireplace room before we got the red chairs, and boy hey after an hour in these you can't feel your butt anymore.)



I kind of like this fabric:



Maybe with turquoise piping? Ugh. This is what I get for getting hooked on a whole bunch of home improvement and design blogs.

Then I start to wonder if maybe dinking around with them is a really bad idea. They look kinda '50s - '60s (maybe '70s?) to me, could they be valuable? Not that I'm going to take them on Antiques Roadshow or anything ("Oh! Didn't you know those were actually designed for the manufacturer by Charles and Ray Eames! What? You got rid of the original turquoise vinyl upholstery? Oh, that's too bad, that exact turquoise color was designed by Alexander Girard! If you'd left that on, they'd be worth a million dollars! Apiece! Next!). Hah, I only wish they were Eames chairs. They have a nice, simple, mid-century-modern-or-maybe-Scandinavian-design-influenced look, though. I was hoping I could find out more about them. Here's the label from the bottom:



(Great typography, no?) Googling "Indiana Chair Co." and Jasper will find you various business directory listings for them (founded in 1905!), but they have no website! ZOMG! How is that even possible? Don't they know I need to browse their complete online catalog of chair designs to find out what these are? How inconsiderate!

So anyway, in the "tradition" of all these home design blogs I'm reading, this is where I whine bout how I can't make up my mind ask my beloved readers for your thoughts. Should I redo them, or just see if I can get them really clean? Keep the turquoise color? Cover them with something new? Hep me, pleez?