You have a treasure on your hands. For their value, I would keep them the same and spend time bringing the wood up to par. Re-upholstering will make a big difference. However, it may mean it doesn't go with your home which is a worry.

If you find a fabric that you'd like to upholster them with, you could pick a colour from that and paint them. What a great find! Will you be using all 12?

ASVinteriors, the longer I look at them the more I love the wood, I was planning to paint origionally (easier option) but the timber really is beautiful. carolins, I think I only want 6 of them I actually have 13 :)

Sell the other 6! I bet you a high end store or designer shop would be interested in these!

Gorgeous upholstery fabrics in the colours you describe are available from Cloth in Sydney www.clothfabric.com. Would go perfectly and you can order online. They might trade the other 7 chairs too!

This is a pic of my lounge and some prints I have been saving for my coastal home (when it's built) I attach this to show the kind of feel I am after. The chairs will be in the same area as these couches.

If you kept 6 and sold 6, I'd be happy to provide a home for the orphan if you are Sydney based:-)

I will remember that sally216, I am in Sydney, any ideas on where the best place to sell them would be?

I'm sure that whatever you do to the wood, they will look better than they do now. Keep 7 yourself. It's nice to have a spare one. 6 is a good number to sell.

Graham & Graham in Redfern might buy and restore or Vamp in Surry Hills. Also ask your local upholsterer for suggestions. Failing that, ebay. So pleased they didn't end up in landfill.

Gorgeous chairs! Keep them wooden and recover the seats, they'll look amazing!

Thank you Sally for the fabric suggestions, this is more the advice I was after :)

Turn one of the chairs over so you can see the underside. If the fabric is attached with staples or the like, it's easy to change the upholstery out yourself. Find a fabric that works with the wood of the chairs in a weight, style and color that you want. Carefully remove the fabric that's on the chair now. There may not be any sewing involved but you'll be using the old fabric piece(s) as your pattern. Make sure that everything is lined up correctly before you begin. Make sure any design that you want centered will appear that way once you start stapling. You should be able to do all of this with a staple gun. Be sure that the corners don't pucker too much. Doing this project yourself will save lots of money & if it's successful, you'll be able to change these out whenever you want!

I would keep their original color. They are beautiful. Not everything has to match, keep that in mind. I always tell my clients: if you want things to match, go to Sears. Don't come to me. Those chairs will stand on their own. With a great upholstery fabric that goes with everything else, you will be right on! And yes, sell 6 of them. Go to a good second hand store, people who know design and quality when they see it. Do a little research to find one.

Carolyn, if I may mention that: The pictures above your sofa are two high, and it would be great if at least the two lower outside ones could be at the same height, creating the same bottom line. You might have to nudge the others a bit to adjust.

Seen as though the wood isn't in great shape- I would sand them down and then distress them-and give them a white wash finish- like your frames- then choose a really awesome print to cover the cushions.

Those are great chairs! They have a really unique, almost sculptural quality about them & could easily be family heirlooms. Just speaking only for myself, it would be VERY hard for me to part with any of them. You really hit the jackpot when you found them! Were they expensive?