Metal Office Furniture
Durable steel and aluminum office furniture was a mainstay of the American workplace from the Depression through World War II and into the sixties and seventies. Designed with practicality rather than style in mind, it was taken for granted in its day, then dismissed as clumsy and heavy. Now, after years of neglect, vintage mass-produced office furniture is being reclaimed, restored, and repurposed -- and it's finding a comfortable place in home offices.

The vintage medical cabinets and side tables were wet-coat painted, and the swivel-chairs, manufactured in the forties or fifties, were recovered with leather. Wet-coat painting is done at an auto-body shop with a high-powered spray gun. Although expensive, this method allows you to obtain the exact shade you want; the painters will match any color sample you give them. Having several pieces painted at a time may help to reduce the per-unit cost.

The steel, aluminum, wood, and fiberglass chairs have subtle details -- a tapered leg, a bowed stretcher -- that keep them from looking clunky. These chairs date from the mid-forties to the seventies, but with fresh upholstery and refinished frames, they look brand new. Library and side tables made in the fifties and sixties can be transformed into spacious desks: Add swiveling clerks' chairs, and they become great workstations.