Where's the LIKE button? No, no, the LOVE button. The I am so jealous button?

Great chairs, great DH.

I think "WOW"!!!!!! What a deal.

What a guy!!!! When you finish them they'll be fabulous.

No kidding, your DH and those chairs are a gem! The caning looks in great condition too, such a deal. I hope you'll post in-progress pictures.

Great chairs and I love the idea of the white denim or else a nice linen...and the kicky pleated skirt would be nice on them. You have trained him great ! c

What a find, both the chairs and the hubby!

Great find, great husband! The fabric doesn't show any wear. You could paint the sides and keep the fabric.

White denim sounds lovely, but it is kind of stiff - I wonder whether it would tuft well.

What a terrific find! White sounds lovely, but I am not sure a skirt would work well. I have also seen amazing redos of chairs like this that have been painted in a bright color (or black) with coordinating modern and splashy upholstery if that would work with your style. Anyway, they are fun no matter what! Kudos to your DH!

Color me GREEN! I'm jealous of those finds AND your shop. What I could do in there LOL.

Not sure if a skirt would work if you kept the caned sides exposed. I like your denim idea if you chose not to tuft when you reupholster. I think graywings may be onto something about the fabric being a bit difficult to work into folds.

I can't wait to see the end product!

WOW - great style and with your touch they will look fantastic!

Very unique and great find! Not sure I'd use tufting again with the cane, and I also don't see a skirt with that style.
So much you can do with those chairs!

Wow! DH did good, I practically have the twin to those
chairs. I got mine at the good-will store.
I did mine in a stripe, no shirt.
I think a lot of chairs, take on a bedroom look when
they have a skirt.

BTW, these chairs will be easy to re-upholster.
again, great find. Enjoy!

What a great find! And the chairs aren't bad either. ;) So funny about your husband's quick braking. I can't tell you how many times I've had the same reaction to an estate sale sign lol. I hope you gave your hubby the proper positive reinforcement for a job well done. :)

Will you paint the caning white, or just reupholster in white? Either way, I think it will be gorgeous. White just has a way of reinventing even pieces that don't have nearly as good bones as your chairs already have. That was a nice Christmas gift from your neighbors.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the day someone kicks a matched pair of nice-looking chairs to the curb in my neighborhood...

A pat on the back for DH. Nice find and I like the uniqueness of them. Can't wait to see them reupholstered - no skirt.

Wow -those might become your favorite chairs! I ADORE cane chairs but don't own any yet....

Here's a link that might inspire you....

Here is a link that might be useful: Cane Chair Makeover

Cliff and Joan - I'd love to see pics of your chairs. You guys do such wonderful work!

Denim was the first word that popped into my head but probably not what I was really envisioning. Something more like a heavy duck or probably outdoor fabric (kids and all). I'd love linen but unless someone can figure out how to do a slipcover for them then I can't see it w/ kids. I admit that my knowledge of fabric is quite lacking though so what do I know?

'Skirt' probably isn't the best way to describe what I'm thinking. More like a box pleat w/ about a 2" drop. Nothing long. Can't imagine tufting them again either.

I wonder how DH would handle me asking him to paint them white? :o)

Fantastic find! I can't wait to see what you do with them as I have their twin, mine has orange fabric though.

Someday I'll get around to redoing it, right now one of my Bassets has claimed it as his though and it keeps him off the other furniture.

I think they need the tufting...but that's me. Those are stunners.

Why don't I find stuff like that?

LOVELY!!!!! I agree that the style of the chairs =no skirt.

Here it is ttodd

This is from the back...
I love tufts and have done several chairs with tufts,
but I don't see your chairs in tufts.
My chair has a cushion, your chairs will be easier to
re-upholster with the slip seat.

You have to do foam and batting, as well as re-tying
the springs before the fabric goes on.
when you pull off the fabric you'll see how it was pulled
and stapled. again, no skirt, IMO.

these are from today.

from the front, with an overhead light.

this is from october 2009 after we re-did it.
we cleaned up the wood carefully with mineral spirits
and very gently rubbed with 0000 steel wool, then old english furniture polish and after a couple of weeks
paste wax.

I love this chair for the look and for the ease of
upholstering it.

Ttod, this is another chair we did from good-will...
I want to show you -- what I mean about the batting and the
thickness of the foam we use. When you pull your
fabric and staple it, you pull tight like a son-of-a- gun
and the foam squashes down. The thick padding will give you
a professional look.
the legs on this chair was blond wood...this chair had to be stripped and then stained dark to match the LR furniture.

I hope you're inspired to try to upholster these chairs
yourself.

The chairs are great. Feel very Mediterranean in design, so no skirt and no tufts. Let the clean lines shine.

I think something nubby (mohair?)or textured a bit would be great. I wouldn't choose denim, wrong feel for the chairs imo. Just be sure to get something scotchguarded in the fabric and you will be fine.

Lucky gal, good chairs and a great DH!

cliffand joan - very nice! Did your chair start off w/ a seperate seat cushion or did you make it? You guys are so amazing!

Check out the link below to the same chair after being painted.

What do you think of something like that?

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted Cane Wingback

I like it painted too, as long as the room it's going
in warrents it.
Do you sew t todd? I find the hardest thing about upholstery is sewing the welt to the seat cushions.
We did our DR chairs in a red stripe several years ago,
then last winter we did them again and I talked the
head guy into doing a slip seat. Boy was that super
easy as compared to sewing on welt and matching stripes.
The only sewing was the welt, and that is just straight
sewing. (welt is cut on the bias --so that it twists
and turns and stretches) In any case, anybody can sew welt.
I get you an example of what I mean. You'll need to buy
some batting and foam to build up the chair seat. It's a good way to do it, for a beginning upholster.

you would have to build it up higher on your chair.
but, this is what I mean by a slip seat.
Easy to do. We made a wood form out of plywood to fit the seat. The entire 9 chair seats took about one day to do.

Before, lots and lots of sewing and matching stripes.
It took forever to do...If you notice, hubby even matched
the welt to the stripes.

I've been looking for this pic...and finally found it.

Here it is when I bought it, October '09...it was screaming 1970's!

Really cute chairs and the price was right! I vote no skirt and no denim. Skirts and denim are just too countrified for those chairs. Linen sounds very nice.

Gosh, my mother was really into cane when she was setting up housekeeping, so I grew up with it. She has very similar chairs that probably would be something I would get rid of when she downsizes. After seeing this thread and the makeovers, I am looking at those chairs in a different light. Love the all white!

more cane chairs.

ya know new homebuilder, I love all chairs, and cane chairs
to my eye -- just gorgeous. I think they are unique and
stylish and can fit into a lot of different decors.
The old ones are the best.

I picked up this little
beauty on good-will in summer of 2009. I couldn't believe someone
parted with this chair. But then again, Ttodd's hubby's awsome find proves that some people just can't look behind the old upholstery -- into the beautiful bones of a chair.

It's small and fits well in small
or big spaces.
All it needed was some cleaning and polishing, attaching
the under seat and sewing a new cushion.
I apoligize to everyone who saw this already.

before

after a little TLC and a new cushion...
It may be old fashioned to some, but then again, I'm old :) so to me -- it's timeless.
I have it in our bedroom.

Beautiful!

Joann has the twins!!
I vote drop cloth fabric...love the chairs!!

Joann - you have some gorgeous, gorgeous cane chairs!

Here is one that I have had for years - covered in a leopard velvet upholstery. I used to have it in my bedroom in our previous house - now it is in the living room and is the official "purse" chair when the girls come over for lunch - this is where the purses go.

Love that he picked up a pair for you!!!!! :0) WOW!

I also picked up a FREE cane chair....not a high back...and plan to reupholster it some day...it's still in usable condititon.

Thank cattknap, I love your chair as well, actually
I love animal prints too ... cane and animal prints are a good blend.
On our bed we have gariffe pillows, I bought the fabric
from my fabric guys. I spotted it on a big roll, and said to Cliff, "do you
think we can use gariffe in our house?
My fabric guy hearing me said, "depends, how tall are
your ceilings!?!"

I was amused after following this thread to click on my local Craigslist today and see the following for sale...

200.00 for the pair. Your hubby definitely did well, ttodd.

LOL! I love the whole 'outdoor' staging!