Pascoe Plywood Chairs: Before and After(ish)

About a month ago, my friend Alex picked up a set of mid-century Pascoe plywood chairs.  My understanding (which is garnered exclusively from this blog post, which actually features the very pair of chairs that Alex bought off Craigslist) is that these chairs were sold in the 1950s as knock-offs of a similar chair by Paul McCobb.  In any event, they are considered a score these days, and for whatever reason, Alex entrusted their sad, naked little seats with me.

BEFORE

Alex wanted them recovered in a rich burgundy leather, and he wanted to keep it low profile.  While recovering a seat is easy-peasy--a mere matter of spray adhesive and staples, I was a little intimidated by the prospect of both (#1) procuring leather at a reasonable price and (#2) working with leather such that I preserved the lines of the chair's seat.  My saviors were (#1) E-bay and (#2) staples, staples, staples!

I was able to pick up a nice piece of remnant burgundy hide from an E-bay seller for $25 with shipping (!), and it was just enough to cover both seats.

Once I'd affixed a couple of layers of low loft batting cut to fit only the top of the seat (i.e. not wrap around) with spray adhesive, I pulled, pushed, wrapped, and stapled the leather into complete and utter submission.

I was admittedly a little reticent at putting so many staples into a project like this, but my mind was put more at ease by the presence of many a staple hole already in the bottom of both seats from a previous cover job.  And I'm pretty sure that leather's not going anywhere for a while.

And with that, I was able to produce a nice, low-profile after(ish).  Alex plans to get the wood on the backrests refinished as well, so I'm excited to see the true after.

AFTER

Side-by-Side

-----