Young House Love

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Finding Children’s Chairs At A Yard Sale

This weekend we got these vintage kids chairs (they’re just 2 feet tall) for $7.50 each at a local yard sale. They were marked as $10 a pop but we bartered using the old “how about two for $15?” method. Sold!

Chairs

We knew they looked like oldies (we loved the solid construction, steel legs, clean lines) and were pleased when we tipped them both over and saw the word “Brunswick” engraved on the bottom. Not that we knew what it meant, but we thought google might. A little bit of searching turned up this description here:

This original vintage 1950’s children’s chair, with its mid-century danish-modern design is actually made by Brunswick – the same designer/maker of the famed bowling equipment and supplies. In fact, it was also in the 1950’s that Brunswick introduced the machine that automated the resetting of bowling pins. This is a very sturdy chair.

Cool. And guess how much one of them was going for online? $125!

Brunswick School Chair

Our reaction pretty much went a little something like this: Holy cow, are you telling me that we paid $15 for two chairs that could retail for $250? Oh yard sales, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways. And how cool is it that current 65-ish year olds probably used these as kids? Gotta love stuff that’s built to last and handed down to total strangers (and their children) thanks to the phenomenon that is yard sale-ing.

As for what we’ll do to our chairs & what table we’ll pair them with, check out our BabyCenter post (where we whipped up a little mood board of sorts with three options that we’re currently debating). On some monitors the one on the left in that top photo seems to be reading as teal, but it’s a murky forest green in real life. Which is really not our thing. And we’re more partial to darker and less yellow wood tones too – so change is a brewing.

Some folks wouldn’t touch something from the 50’s, but we’re all about it in the name of making them fit into our home and not look so mismatched. After all, we didn’t buy them to make a profit (or to keep them in mint condition as “collectables”) – we bought them to use for the long haul (hopefully with multiple kiddos over the years) since we love their look and their solid and sturdy construction. And you know we love a good refinishing project (like this 50’s dresser that we redid for Clara’s nursery). It might take us a while to actually do anything with them though (since our playroom is also our crazy storage room for now). But someday we’ll get ‘er done. And it’s never too early to start planning, right?

Update: After closer examination we realized that the forest green chair (which looks teal on some monitors) has already been painted. It was originally blonde like the other one. So I thought I’d share that update for the don’t-paint-them peeps. Looks like 50% of them are already painted! Too funny. We’re still un-enamored with the scratched blonde wood and murky green color so we’ll definitely be staining or painting them – but we completely understand that other people might do things differently if they were their chairs!

Comments

  1. Serina says

    Great find! I love little chairs myself. I found a pair at the Salvation Army a few years back for $5 a pop! They are such well made chairs from the past that both my daughter and I use them as foot stools – I’m vertically challenged like Sherry, except even moreso, I’m 4’11” :)

    Here’s a pic showing the red chair, the other one is blue:
    http://applesforolive.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/232323232fp63279_nu334__385___6_wsnrcg355873483337nu0mrj.jpg

    Reply

  2. reva says

    Noo don’t mess with them! I was all for the dresser refinishing, but this is different. The colors are awesome for your house. And think of the family you will eventually hand them down to, once your kids grow out of them. Your paint job won’t wear as well as the original finish, and there won’t be any going back. painting them puts them on a faster path to the dumpster.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      In person the colors don’t go with anything in our house (one is a light blonde-yellow tone while all of our furniture is medium or dark tones of brown) and the one that seems to look teal on some monitors is a murky forest green in person (again not a color we have anywhere else in the house). Just not our cup of tea.

      xo,
      s

    • Lindsay says

      Ahh glad to read this comment about the actual colors of the chairs, as my monitor was one that was definitely showing the one chair as teal! But, I still vote to paint them teal!

  4. Pixie says

    I need to start coming to Richmond to go yard selling with you guys. We actually are going to come to Richmond, we live in DC and have never been. Have you done any post on recommended “to do’s” in your city?

    Reply

  5. Blair says

    I love them, I have a fabulous chair from the 50s as well, and I have to say it gets the most complements of all my furniture! Good luck!

    ~Blair

    Reply

  7. Meredith says

    So cute! I think they’re sweet as-is, but also feel very confident in your painting skillz. (That’s right, skillz with a z—just for you, $herdog). :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yesssss. $herdog in the hizzy. Why does hearing that terrible self-given nickname make me so dorky giddy? Picture John rolling his eyes and me crossing my arms and squinting with swagger.

      xo,
      s

  9. Lori says

    I love how everyone is trying to tell you not to paint them. However, I’m with you. Make the things you live with daily things that you love.

    Reply

  10. Anna says

    Loving your vintage chairs. So cute.

    I’ve got 4 little Ercol chairs from a school attic. Don’t know if Ercol is as popular there as it is in the UK? I adore them. My two youngest kids use them as bedside tables and I have another two just kicking about the playroom.

    The only thing I’ve had to be careful of is they had metal studs on the base that we removed to protect our wooden floors from scratches.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks for the warning- I think ours have rubber things on the bottom, but I’ll go double check that they cover the whole bottom so it’s not sharp on the floors!

      xo,
      s

    • MelissaG says

      Yes! I have about 6 old school chairs and you do have to be careful about the bottoms. We’re only using two so far and I have had to replace the pads/protectors on the bottom. Simple fix but if left undone could cause serious damage to the wood floors (or any floors for that matter).

  12. Anna says

    In fact after posting this comment – realise one of the chairs is in the picture next to my name/avatar – that’s my littlest one standing on it in the playroom.

    Reply

  13. Paige says

    SCORE!

    I like the idea of painting them teal and pairing them with a dark table. Because when Clara invariably bangs on the top of it, a dark color will hide the dings.

    Reply

  14. KC says

    I just purchased a $3 old child’s rocking chair at a yard sale. It needs sanding (I’m guessing). My hope (though I’m very new to this DYI thing) is to paint it a fun color with maybe some type of fun drawings or my child’s initials or name on it. Any very basic starting tips you would have would be greatly appreciated.

    KC
    (very new follower of your site…and I’m hooked every morning!!)

    Reply

  16. Oh My Mod says

    We are huge proponents of yard sales, estate sales and Craiglist for finding quality used furniture. Especially things from the 50s and 60s! Those are a great find and I’m sure you will get great use out of them.

    Reply

  18. Karrie says

    Great find! The debate of pro-paint/don’t-paint is always a funny one. I agree with you, make it work for you and for your house. My mother in law is in the “don’t paint” camp although I didn’t realize her passion for it until recently. We purchased 8 oak kid’s chairs at Goodwill for $30. I thought it would be fun to paint them and give them as gifts to our nieces and nephews. After I had painted three of the chairs, my MIL came over and I was showing off the chair. She said to me “you know, I bet there is some great looking wood under that paint. If you stripped the paint, you’d have a beautiful chair”. HAHA! I then had to break it to her that I was the one who painted it.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh man, I hope her heart didn’t break! There are definitely a range of opinions on the whole paint-or-don’t-paint subject! I think we stand firmly in the camp of “if you got it for cheap and would like it better painted, then paint it.” We definitely wouldn’t paint some gorgeous wood dresser that we paid $300 for though!

      xo,
      s

  20. Cheri says

    I totally had that yellow chair when I was a kid! I promise I’m not that old, my parents are just thrift store junkies.:)

    I think your chairs will look awesome freshened up with paint…my vote is with the teal/chocolate palette!

    Reply

  22. Bee says

    I’m with everyone begging you not to paint them (because I think they’d be adorable in a shabby chic schoolhouse type play area with a big chalkboard wall or something), but I know you guys will make them look fabulous if/when you do. Until you have a firmer vision on what you’re doing with the playroom, have you considered maybe making some cushions to go on them or something?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re not going to touch them until the playroom starts to come along (assuming we end up putting them in there). Should be fun to see how it all turns out!

      xo,
      s

  23. Karla says

    I love these chairs!! My parents have about 5 or 6 of the wooden ones you showed and I believe they got them at a school auction for about $5 for the stack! They will never believe they are worth that much! They love them too much to sell but it’s always fun to know! I can’t wait to see what you do with them! I’m sure it will be great!

    Reply

  24. Sarah says

    “Some folks wouldn’t touch something from the 50?s…” GASP! Who are these folks and what-the-hey would they touch?! Thank you for giving these chairs a home.

    Reply

  25. Ashley says

    I’m hardly a purist about painting paneling and furniture, but PLEASE consider leaving those chairs alone! They are true classics that have stood the test of time. Even though you don’t plan to sell them, they have historical character that shouldn’t be messed with, IMO. I just don’t agree that painting these is a true restoration project that improves upon the original or makes the chairs more functional/beautiful.

    You keep saying that you want your house to have a really layered look, and you seem interested in acquiring old furniture in addition to your newer stuff. Leaving those chairs alone would really add to your home’s character and give you the collected look you’re going for.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We definitely understand that there are others out there who would do things different if these chairs if they were theirs! The thing is, we don’t like the murky forest green and the blonde wood. Just not our thing. And you can’t tell from the pics, but the steel legs are all scratched up. So we figure that we spent $7.50 on them – so we’re happy to make them more our style with a little sprucing. Can’t wait to share whatever we come up with when we get there!

      xo,
      s

  26. Paulina J! says

    Nice find!! Reading through the comments made me be torn about them and then I thought, what about a compromise. Have you thought about maybe a fabric cover of sorts? I’m picturing soem kind of cover with an elastic edge that can be easily removed and even washed?!?!? That way you can have an inter-changeable option AND keep the original underneath?!?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think the reason we love the chairs is because of their clean lines and durability so I don’t know if covering them up is the way to go for us. We don’t have any desire to keep the original look, you know? But we totally respect and understand that there are others who would do things differently if these were their chairs!

      xo,
      s

  27. brandy @midcenturymodernlove says

    I always admire your yard-sale and thrift store finds because I am incredibly intimidated by shopping those places. Would love to see a post on top ten tips for yard sale shopping/thrifting for people like me to ease into it. Way to go on the awesome chairs…love ’em!

    Reply

  29. Gina Lee says

    OMG, I’m so jealous! I NEED one of those! I have been looking for a chair EXACTLY like the ones you found, but alas, I’ve had no luck at all (and we’ve done flea markets, yard sales, etc.) The school that housed my son’s preschool gave away a BOATLOAD of school desks when they updated, and we took one, but have no chair! :(

    Guess we’ll keep hunting…

    Reply

  30. Wom-mom Ethne says

    Cute! Love the 2nd room you pinned with the little chairs. So colorful, but not too pink for a little girl. Naturally my girls (and my) fave color is pink, but in deference to my non-pink-loving hubby, we change it up some.

    Reply

  31. juliet says

    Great find! Funny thing I still have some of these in my classroom. Sometimes u can find such things by the dumpster at schools. We snagged a couple desks. After some paint the girls have spent hours playing school.

    Reply

  32. From Scratch says

    I’m so excited for you! Growing up, I had one of these chairs and a matching school desk! I played school with them all the time- so many wonderful memories came back at seeing your chairs. I hope Miss Clara looks back someday with fond memories of all the fun she had with them.

    By the way, all those hours playing school, yeah, I’m a teacher now. :)

    Reply

  33. Krystle says

    Way to go! I love the chairs.
    We actually had a recent craiglist win after I found a “dresser” listed for $125. We got it knocked down to $100 and when I saw this baby in person, I was in love more than I could imagine! She was all mine!
    After some googling, I learned that this lovely lady (http://tinyurl.com/3q5ylyw) was from the Broyhill Brasilia line, manufactured between 1962-1970, going rate on ebay between $600-$800. Craigslist stalking for the win! :)

    Reply

  34. Kelsey says

    Oh how I love yardsales! What an impressive score! I would paint those suckers no problem! Doing a playroom is going to be so fun and different from doing all the normal rooms! Can’t wait to see the creativity you pit into that project!

    Reply

  35. Rachel @ We Heart Minnesota says

    That is a huge score. And a total steal. They will be adorable in a playroom, and I’m sure you’ll get a lot of use out of them.

    I never seem to pull it together early enough to get those awesome deals at yard sales, but we recently scored two solid oak church benches (that open at the seat to reveal a hidden cubby). They were sitting on the curb with a “Free” sign. We whipped a u-turn and practically fell over ourselves getting out of the car we were so excited. Someday I’ll get inspired to finish them. We’re thinking milk paint.

    Reply

  36. Londen says

    Great find! We are still using garage sale little chairs for our little one.

    I saw a peek of a wheely bug in one of the pictures and wondered if you guys knew about that awesome toy. We bought the ladybug for our daughter for her 1st birthday and its been her special friend ever since, she is five now. We got the small one and even though she is a bit too big, I just saw her taking her for a spin this morning. Before she could walk she used it as a kind of walker pushing it backwards by handle. Too cute!
    Londen

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So cute! We have a little pink rocking scooter that John’s mom got for Clara and she loves it! Here’s hoping it entertains her for half as long as your amazing wheely bug!

      xo,
      s

  37. Laura says

    A great find!
    I’m a sucker for kid’s chairs. I seem to have made a collection because they’re in every room of my house. My kids love their “school” chairs and I do too since they are sturdy and can handle the strain of crazy kids.

    Reply

  38. Diane says

    It’s amazing finds like this that make me want to start going to yard sales… but then I remember how much I love to sleep in on Saturday mornings. LOL

    I’m intrigued by the history on these chairs. How did Brunswick get into making furniture (or did the furniture come first)? Were they made for schools or playrooms at home? Half the fun of these old pieces is the story behind them. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I know right? I think they did bowling stuff and probably made chairs for bowling alleys and maybe then branched into regular chairs and kids chairs? So interesting!

      xo,
      s

  39. Kay says

    I thought I had done well recently when I found a 50s rolling office chair for $35, ebay price $100+. But you have me beaten by a mile. Congratulations on those chairs. That’s a real find.

    Reply

  40. Subha says

    hey sherry,
    just finished your post, opened bhg.com and the next thing I see is this.. http://www.bhg.com/kitchen/remodeling/makeover/bright-budget-friendly-kitchen-makeover/#page=7

    by the way, I am an architect and interior designer from India, and a big fan of your blog. always thought of writing to you, and it never happened. I really admire you for all the spirit and love with which you are decorating your home. gonna comment on each of your post from now on..

    keep up the good work
    luv

    Subha

    Reply

    • heather s. says

      THAT is where I’ve seen these chairs! I knew I just recently saw them in a mag but I couldn’t place them. Thanks. :)

      I agree – make them work with your house. Can’t wait to see what you do!

  41. Melissa S says

    Cracking up at all of the “No, don’t touch them” posts between here and Baby Center. Do they not know you guys at all (not that I do either, but after reading your posts daily for months, even I know you are going to change them). I think thats what makes reading your posts so fun. You taking something old and retro and make it chic! I love that you will be changing them. It mixes the retro with the new! Plus I hate that everyone is telling you that they will be worth money…that wasn’t the purpose of the purchase! Jeez! Have some fun! I can’t wait to see what John and Sherry Do!

    Reply

  43. Patti says

    You scored 2 beauties, good for you! From the pic, it looks like they still have all their rubber feet, true?

    Reply

  44. Ingrid says

    Oh they are so cute!!! Like little mini Eames chairs, Clara is so lucky! I too am for getting quality that will last. My husband’s grandmother gave my girls each an antique school chair with a personal message written on the bottow, it was special. They are now outgrowing their mini art table and chairs and ready to upgrade to our old kitchen table. It is hard to believe and I don’t know where the time has gone.

    Reply

  46. Chris says

    Haha, I love your “controversial” posts like these, and the painting/no painting debate seems to be on all design blogs. It will be cool to see how they look post-paint. I’m usually one who thinks to myself “don’t paint” but then LOVE the finished product and change my mind. The structure of the chairs look good, but I think paint will make them look more modern and punchy.

    Reply

  47. Tallymomma says

    I absolutely love refurbishing a great yardsale find into the perfect item for me. I think I favor your first and second options mostly for gender neutral purposes. You have impeccable taste and I’m sure whatever you go with will be faaaaaabulous! :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Stain is definitely on the table! Our first instinct was a deep chocolate stain, but then we started thinking about the possibility of color (probably since they’re for the bean). Should be fun to see where we end up though. We can always add colors in other ways and keep the furniture semi neutral…

      xo,
      s

  49. Annabelvita says

    My favourite recent bargain was this vintage schoolroom map from a junk sale in France. It’s huge (about 1.2 metres squared) and I loved it from when we first got it for 15€.
    But I love it even more now that I’ve seen the same one sold in two places for £140! Hooray.

    Reply

  50. Kris says

    How do you guys find your yard sales? Do you just keep an eye out for flyers or is there a website you go to?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We just keep an eye out usually (this one was actually in our own neighborhood, and John spotted it while out on a run). Sometimes we’ll check out craigslist to see if there are any big ones (multi family or whole neighborhood ones).

      xo,
      s

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