Vintage Chairs & Stylish Seating
Vintage chairs are often the easiest home furnishing you can introduce to a room for some classic drama and character. There are so many unique types, styles and periods to choose from that you are certain to a few that strike your fancy.
Reclaimed chairs are easy to find and are often quite low in cost, depending on what you are after. Source Craigslist for local chairs. You may even luck out and happen upon some great finds for free. As always, yard sales, auctions and estate sales are excellent places to check.
Late 18th to early 19th-century bow-back Windsor side chairs. These chairs, one found curbside, may be English versions as they both employ a decorative center splat at the chair back. (Reference Source: Buffalo Architecture and History)
Windsor chairs were extremely popular and as such, are relatively easy to find. They are one of my favorite styles to use as an accent or to pair with an antique desk.
Vintage Chairs
Chairs displaced from dining sets are good options as decorative, furniture accents and are often sold at a bargain since they are no longer part of a matching set. Keep an eye out for these orphaned pieces. You can even pick up numerous, different styles and unify them with paint. This easy upcycling technique is a common method used in shabby chic decorating to create an eclectic collection.
A random arm chair from a destroyed
dining set is used as an accent chair.
Note the ornate detailing.
An American, Colonial-style fiddleback arm chair
heads a table. This set, originally bought new by
my mother, now resides in my formal dining room.
Abandoned from a dining set, this Federal-style
side chair now accompanies an antique secretary.
A lone, Gothic-styled chair demands attention in
a dining room. Learn more about this unique chair.
Antique Folding Chairs
A late, 19th-century folding chair with the
original tapestry seat. A wonderful, delicate
piece of history for display purposes only.
Some early to mid 20th-century, wooden, folding chairs
are reclaimed and added to a vintage, draw-leaf table.
Children Chairs
Children's chairs can be the perfect addition or accent piece for a room. They can provide some quirky fun and classic charm. Repurpose them as you see fit.
An adorable red chair provides a bold pop of color
in this muted, gray bathroom.
An old, school chair is reclaimed and painted a soft green to coordinate with this living room's accent wall color.
Vintage Stools
Besides chairs, you may be interested in vintage stools. Both step stools and seating stools can be used in unique ways as decorative accents around your home. Repurpose them as candle or plant stands or use their top as a small area to display some books. If you have a more rustic-themed home, hang them from ceiling rafters or affix them to your walls as a unique, floating accent shelf or ledge. You are limited only by your imagination.
An old, wooden stool, placed upon an antique
ice chest, creates a base for a large candle
Vintage stools, both with authentic, aged-paint patinas, become charming accents.
This reclaimed stool becomes a table of sorts
for displaying some antique barbershop tools.
See more of this updated, vintage-styled bathroom.
Review this informative resource on antique chairs. It may help you identify some of your own vintage chairs and will educate you on specific styles and identifiable characteristics to look for when shopping.
