Thanks to Freecycle, we obtained a cool set of sturdy and decorative carved wooden dining room chairs! Because they had just been in storage, we had to clean up all the wood from years of settled dust. They could use a bit of refinishing too, but for now we’ll keep the genuine ‘distressed’ look, which isn’t that noticable – just a little wear and scuffing. We also reupholstered all the seats with a neutral taupe-colored velvet. The decorations on the back rungs, as you can hopefully see from the photo are like a loop of wood, and they are all slightly different so I’m guessing it was all hand-carved.
We were able to find original labels on the bottom of the seats, from the Tell City Chair Company in Indiana, so John looked them up online and they’re still in business! We emailed them the information we found on the labels so maybe they’ll be able to tell us what year they were made – it would be really cool if they were genuine antiques! But even if they’re not, we’re happy that we’re able to give such lovely pieces a good home. 🙂