Traditional metallic cable furniture, preferred by Mid-Century Modern designers, was usually made of steel. That made the bits both durable and exposed, because scratches, wear and exposure to the components could strip away protective coatings and initiate the process of rust and corrosion. If your cable furniture needs restoring, then you get a messy job ahead of you. However, the final result could be a piece that lasts for generations with a little preventive maintenance.
Restoring Your Own Eiffel Tower
Charles and Ray Eames created iconic cable furniture in their California workshop. An Eames “eiffel” chair — they called it a “Rod Base” — is molded fiberglass bolted to legs manufactured from a number of thin metal rods which resemble the lacy, angular structure of the Eiffel Tower. The reproduction seats are very similar to the originals and can endure the same deterioration and deterioration of the metallic parts. Restore bases which have started to corrode by taking a wire brush into the rust stains, sanding the metal after brushing it thoroughly for it entirely smooth, then painting and slapped it with a great, rust-inhibiting paint or metallic finish.
Bertoia’s Diamonds and Birds
Harry Bertoia was a steel sculptor and designer that worked together with the Eames and left their workshop following World War II to produce his own line of steel mesh furniture. His Bird chair, with a scooped cable base supporting a birdlike material chair, and the Diamond chair, a curved web of stainless steel net, get a polished chrome finish when used only for interior seating. Shine dulled chrome by wadding up a sheet of aluminum foil and buffing the metal. See to the wires like pliers and scrub away to remove tarnish on a classic chromed wire chair.
Wrap-Around Chair
Eero Saarinen’s famous Womb chair was developed to curl up in — a sort of enveloping fabric nest perched on spare steel rods covered in chrome or matte black paint. If your womb-style chair includes legs in need of a paint project, remove the upholstered seat, then strip the old finish in a well-ventilated space where you may spray paint without ruining anything, and re-coat the metallic base with a rust-inhibiting apartment black paint made to adhere to steel. Spray one light coat over the entire chair base before spraying another light coat to provide the metal even reporting. Should you locate a drip, then allow it to dry, then sand it off and touch up the spot so it can not be seen.
Breuer’s Bent Bike Frame
Marcel Breuer, a youthful Bauhaus designer, became fascinated with the possibilities of twisting tubular steel just like a bike frame. His experiments led to the iconic Wassily chair, which motivated the Modernists who began to produce furniture from steel. Breuer produced a whole line of furnishings with no welding. That made the metal easier to chrome, his favored finish, and wrap with cushions or strips of upholstery leather or fabric. Tape and protect the cushions or webbing of a Breuer-style chair with plastic sheeting before restoring damaged or dull steel.