If you paint it black, the fabric will really stand out.

Semi gloss black would be my choice; what a fun chair.

I think a really deep cinnabar red would be stunning.

But what is the feel of the room, and what other colors are in there now? It doesn't have to match, but you have given it a more traditional feel with the toile - how does that fit with the rest of the fabrics in the den?

Thanks for the advice,
Luckiirish and mitch, I was also thinking of black but was curious to what others thought.
Les, now you have me wondering,what exactly is deep cinnabar red can you give me a bm o sw color name ,just so I can get an idea.
the rest of the den/office is an old brown desk. One couch in a grege tone microfibre.
This is upstairs and no one sees it but our family.

i would choose black or a black/brown.

Is it a labeled Cushman chair? They appear to have some value if so (and probably less if refinished or painted.) The wood may be Canadian Yellow Poplar (or maple if earlier.)

I have a somewhat similar Cushman chair with the added feature of hinged, drop-down arm extensions (making the arms wider)that make it very convenient for sitting and reading while having a cup of tea. My cushions are beastly stiff and I think I should get new ones made, as pretty as yours! The overall style of mine is a bit more Mission-esque than Colonial Revival. We inherited it from my DH's family in VT.

Below is a link to the Bennington (VT) Museum which has information about Cushman Chairs as it ws a local manufacturer. (Once there enter cushman in the search box)

(I live nearby and have an errand there that needs to be done in the next few weeks. If there's additional on-site looking-up of something you need I could easily add it to my list.)

HTH,

L.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bennington (VT) Museum main page

I usually love furniture painted in a toned red and if the cushion had a hint of red on it at all, I'd agree red would be a great choice. However, as it is, there wouldn't be anything red in the fabric to tie it with the red of the chair, so I'm having a hard time envisioning it. Of course you could always add a lumber pillow with red in it to help coordinate the colors.

I have to admit to being biased though, a year or so ago, Home Goods had some black wooden chairs with black toile cushions similar to the one you've used and they were just adorable.

There is no markings on the chair, so I do not think it is from Vermont.
I live in Canada.
I really just like the chair and find it very comfortable,so I just want to finish it and enjoy it.
If I could keep it stained I would but because I started sanding it and am down to white no grain wood in som places, I think my options for staining are gone.

If I could keep it stained I would but because I started sanding it and am down to white no grain wood in som places, I think my options for staining are gone.

That's not true at all. My first guess is you have a nice maple or birch wood chair there. While typically maple and birch don't have much grain they do stain beautifully. You could even just sand and varnish the natural wood and have a beautiful tone. However, if you did that, I think you'd need a more contemporary fabric on the cushions.

Also just because you don't have any grain doesn't mean you can't stain or even gel paint it in a darker color. A lot of kitchen cabinets are stained maple and they look amazing. I work with wood quite a bit and can honestly say, you still have a variety of options, it just depends on how much work you're willing to put into the project, painting of course being the easiest.

Thanks luckiirish for that info. I guess that is the problem, I really do not want to sand the whole chair. I am lazy.
I think I will go ahead and paint it black, now should I go with a semi gloss or satin.?

Before you paint it black, here is an idea of what black and white toile look like with red.

I sure wish you could show us other pics of things in the room, even though you said it didn't have to match.

Here is a link that might be useful: comforter set

I would use a matte finish because I don't care for a lot of shine. If you try matte and don't care for it, then you could always put a coat with a satin or semi gloss over it.

definitely satin!

I just checked the can of paint I used for our bathroom cabinet and I do stand corrected. The others are right and satin is the sheen I meant to say. Sorry

how about gel stain? I'm currently re-doing the base of my dining room table with Old Masters gel stain in Spanish Oak. It is a black.

I did my dresser in my bedroom this way too. Came out gorgeous. You treat it just like paint, but it takes several coats and you need to let it dry thoroughly between coats.

Here's my dresser. It is by Drexel Heritage. I got it at Home Goods for around $200 (*can't remember exactly) because nobody would buy it due to it being some odd whitewashed stain. I did the gel stain treatment, painted the copper hardware a satin nickel, and voila...

Bee,
That is gorgeous. If I used that gel stain on my chair, what would happen to the parts that I have sanded down to white wood compared to the part that is still orangey red wood.

well, I'm no expert, but I think that it would all even out, just like paint. You might need an extra coat or two, but it won't make the completely dark parts any darker. Does that make sense?

Or, you could do a "primer" coat on the bare parts only first. Then do the entire piece. (I mean with the gel stain not paint primer)

If you do a google images search for cinnabar, you will see pix of carved chinese pieces. The color is a often a brick red, rich and a bit more brown in undertone.

I love your chair and recently refinished a sofa and chair in a similar age/style. If mine had been gently used I would have tried to refresh them and keep them in natural wood tones. But the sofa had been redone in the late '70's with antique gold finish and I decided to paint both pieces.

After sanding I did 2 light coats of primer, then 2 of paint with a satin finish. I followed by brushing (foam brushes) with poly that didn't alter the satin finish but offered protection, particularly for the arms. The finished pieces exceeded my expections and were well worth the work.

I did mine in the Martha Stewart shade "Wrought Iron" which is actually a very, very deep blue with a hint of slate. My daughter and I made cushions and covered them in French blue ticking.

It pleases me to own such a unique set with a family history. I think you will be equally delighted with your chair. I love your cushions and a black frame would be beautiful with them. However, if your room is suited to it, I also like the idea of cinnabar red. I generally go for the most conservative color choices but I'm glad I went with a touch of color on my own frames. It adds a bit more personality to the room.

Thanks again to all. I think I have narrowed my choines to two,either a black satin paint or the old masters Spanish oak (black) gel.
Ummm...now to only be able to decide.

Lyban, I would just turn the chair upside down and do a test patch on the underside of each choice to see which works better for you.

Luckiirish,
That's a great idea. I am going to try that.

Good, glad to help, let us know which looks better! I really think with the black and white toile, the black would be stunning, but....

lyban, I have a toile fabric chair in my guest room.
My chair is a cherry finish but your chair would look
beautiful black!

Here is a picture of mine
Good luck.

Sorry this is the one I meant to post.

Well it took me awhile but finally finished my chair. I started out trying the gel but did not like the results so went with a satin finish black paint. I am happy with the results. here is a photo.

{{!gwi}}

What a neat chair. You did an excellent job.

NICE!!

Very pretty!!

Totally late to the game! Had a suggestion and then I saw that it was painted! Looks really good!

Looks great! I like the chair behind it too.