In the News: MCM Chair Makeover in Black & Yellow

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week-end. My sweet husband and I drove west, to Fonda (NY), on Friday to attend a barn sale. Really we wanted to take a nice drive out into the country, peep some leaves, and enjoy each other’s company. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Today I have a simple chair makeover for you. My sweet husband needed a new desk chair and a few weeks ago we found one at a garage sale for $5.00.

This Midcentury Modern (MCM) chair cleaned up quite nicely. For those of you who haven’t heard the acronym “MCM” before, it refers to Midcentury Modern, a design movement originating in the mid-twentieth century (about 1935-65). It’s characterized by simplicity and clean lines. You might be surprised to learn that the term is relatively new, coined by Cara Greenburg in her 1984 book, Midcentury Modern: Furniture of the 1950s.

My little MCM chair, likely a mass-produced piece from late in the era, offered my sweet husband great back support and the sturdiness he was looking for. I’m interested in mixing in some new furniture styles in both our family room and office–this piece seemed like a great place to start. (Hard to believe someone felt this “lovely” tweed needed the protection of plastic, right?)

I chose this beautiful yellow and white fabric, and learned later that yellow, especially this shade is very “in” right now.

I learned it in the October issue of House Beautiful (32).

After removing the seat for reupholstering with my new fabric, I gave the wooden frame two coats of black paint. Because I only had matte black, I later gave it two coats of semi-gloss acrylic spray. (Loving my Starbucks “England” mug? We brought back five when we moved back to the states. We’re doing pretty good with four remaining.)

The good news: I like my new chair. The bad news: the old room doesn’t like the new chair. Not every makeover meets our expectations, does it? Our office used to be our dining room, but about four years ago, I switched it out. Now it contains two desks, a credenza, and some shelving, all of which are dark wood, but not black. I left the Waverly wallpaper and curtains in place.

I bought the yellow fabric with geometric design hoping it would work with the wall paper, but between it and the black not going with the brown, it just doesn’t work.

So, is this an “epic fail” as my kids would say? Not quite epic. My husband will use it in our office for a while, until we find him a new/old one to work on. Then I can pass this one on to someone who will love it more, or I can try selling it at my shop.

Want to read more about MCM? Try this article:
Why the World is Obsessed with Midcentury Modern Design

TThanks for the feature, Andrea!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

If you enjoyed  your visit, I hope you follow me by email.
Sign up below and you’ll never miss a post.

Let’s connect!
Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
Twitter