styleNorth

Ed Wormley is one of my favorite mid-century furniture designers and when I saw the Craigslist ad above, I was struck by how similar the chairs are to Wormley’s famous Captain Chair (below left) and also to his Petite Armchair (below centre), albeit with a soupçon of Scandinavian flair. I immediately emailed the seller who informed me that she actually had three of the chairs, although the third had a different fabric. I arranged to go see them.

When I walked into the seller’s home this morning I was delighted with the seat fabric, which Madame informed me was the mismatched chair, still dressed in its original covering. “But I reupholstered them myself,” she said, “so you’ll find the same fabric underneath the other two seats.”

Now, there was nothing wrong with the lady’s choice (below left); it matched her sofa and worked well in her space, but the original fabric (below right) goes much better with my decor and because it’s been covered all these years, it’s pristine.

Below is the chair in my new apartment, a little tease before I reveal how I’m settling in. The new chairs are smaller and more modern than the ones they’re replacing, which I’ve just posted on Craigslist in case you’re interested.

I’ve saved the best part of this story for last, however, and that’s the price I paid: Madame wanted just $20 each for the chairs, which needed and received a bit of TLC on my end and are now gorgeous and gleaming. She said she’d had a dozen inquiries about the chairs but fortunately I was first off the mark; lucky me. Stay tuned for more of my new digs . . .