Green Desk Chair

A nice desk chair in solid beech wood, with the classic Thonet style but modernised by means of colour and a seat made with reclaimed tung and groove pine boards.

The chair is not that old, as is marked '(made in) Slovakia', but the original green paint was rather chipped in quite a few areas. As I found this added to its 'character' I let it be, even distressing the undamaged areas to balance the look. A coat of chesnut tinted varnish protects all the surfaces and tones down the green, ageing and making the whole piece more uniform.

Measures: total height 77cm, seat height 46,5cm; seat 41 x 40,5cm

THE MAKING OF: Here on the right, the chair prior the intervention, and the tung and groove pine boards used to make the new seat.

Below: removing the old seat; distressing the chair in the undamaged areas to balance the look.

Using a piece of cardboard to trace the shape of the seat onto the pine boards. Then I cut and trimmed them (not shown).

Sanding the edges of the slats to round them; staining the central one in olive green

Staining the rest in a chestnut tone; ageing the whole piece with varnish in that same tone; finally polishing the chair.