• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Fixing Up an Eames Lounge Chair?

BrianVarick

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
1,746
Reaction score
21
My local craigslist has tan and black Eames Lounge chairs with ottomans for sale. They are pretty beat up it looks like, but I am wondering if I tried conditioning the leather, whether or not they would be presentable.

What do you guys think?

3na3k23o15Y55P15R1acb6337398a11ec1c57.jpg

3m23o83l45W25U25P6acbb18e2cc092dd1066.jpg

3nc3o83l75V15T35P1acba072543dfd271c65.jpg

3n13m63l95V15Y55Q6acb94f38a17a0fc1438.jpg

3k23m23pb5Z35T55X6acb48512c40f90818dd.jpg

3p63o83l55V35Q15W5acb651b5764485c1837.jpg

3nc3m43p95Y15V25Q4acb01cc538940ed14c0.jpg
 

gomestar

Super Yelper
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
19,880
Reaction score
4,474
I don't think conditioning would do a whole lot. You could replace the leather (gf did this for a client recently) but it isn't cheap. Keep in mind they'll probably make the room smell all musty for quite a while.
 

BrianVarick

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
1,746
Reaction score
21
If they were authentic and in this condition what are they worth, and are they a reasonable investment?
 

oDD_LotS

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
455
Reaction score
1
The tan/brown one looks nearly identical to mine pre-rejuvenation....and it was a knock-off (possibly Plycraft). I've always heard that the flat armrests and the four-legged flat barstock base meant knock off. Not 100% on that, but it's what I'd read.

That being said, I was able to bring mine back from WAY worse condition. I took it apart, used a refinishing solution (mild finish stripper) on the wood, refinished it with hand rubbed oil varnish, sealed with laquer, and then applied paste wax (hand buffed). For the cushions, I had them switched from cheap tan vinyl to a higher quality black vinyl (looked nicer than the actual leather the place had). The upholstery was about $300 (mostly material) and the shell restoration was probably about $30.

"Restoring" a knock-off may not be the most financially sound proposition, but I loved the chair and didn't want to get rid of it. With the real thing, I'd get a little more concerned about resale, historic integrity, blah blah blah.

Either way, there are some tutorials out there.
 

BrianVarick

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
1,746
Reaction score
21
^I think your right. The tufting looks very weird on the black one, and I think they are supposed to have 5 spokes.
 

mordecai

Immoderator
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
11,274
Reaction score
780
Originally Posted by BrianVarick
If they were authentic and in this condition what are they worth, and are they a reasonable investment?

i'm no expert but they look like knockoffs. aside from that, these are still being produced so i'm not sure how much of an "investment" they would be.
 

BrianVarick

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
1,746
Reaction score
21
^I guess I meant sustaining their value then. They were only $200 each, but I decided against them
frown.gif
 

akatsuki

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
2,652
Reaction score
201
I've been trying to score some old ones so I can reupholster in cloth (cat claws would destroy leather fast). It just seems a shame to buy new ones just to tear off the leather. The problem is, most often, that when the leather is bad, the whole thing is pretty shot.
 

zjpj83

Distinguished Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
9,425
Reaction score
28
Does Hugh Laurie have a corduroy one in his office in House? Looks like it.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,162
Messages
10,579,065
Members
223,883
Latest member
Darru
Top