Vince recently wrote in with a link to this great looking, vintage-style patio set. “I thought you might be interested in seeing the nice vintage patio set that is being offered by Crate & Barrel in their outlet site. You can purchase pieces separately or an entire 5 piece set.” I believe that these are very classic style of what’s called “motel chairs” because, you got it, they sat in front of motels and motor court inns. Motels….Ah the car and the summer vacation. I remember the scene well — Mom and Dad piled us into the back of Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. Put the back seats down and treated it like a playpen, no seatbelts of course. Chain smoked with windows up and the A/C down. Drove 90 mph. Good times. That got me to thinkin’ I would do a round up of other possible motel chairs out there…I know I’ve seen them. And, on my second clickaroo, I found that Apartment Therapy had recently done one. AT’s round-up includes Plow & Hearth, Grandin Road, LL Bean, LB International, and Vermont Country Store.
Also, don’t forget my post on Woodward patio furniture — it’s not “motel” style but still, quite close to authentic retro. See the post in the first Related Posts, below. And of course, you can always find vintage. Methinks the old ones may be more heavy duty – although not with that shiny new powder coated finish.
Thanks, Vince, for inspiring this very important summertime post! 
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Love, love, love this style of patio furniture! Must have!
Lowes currently has a set just like that, all individual pieces. The chairs are $35 each and are available in a blue and green color.
Lowes currently has a set just like this. The chairs are available in blue and green at $35 a piece. Much easier than ordering from a website. you can run down and grab a set, be in business in no time.
Very timely! I have been looking at these online the last month or so and have also found this website http://www.candybouncer.com/home.html that sells them. Target was selling them until last year, but the customer reviews on the quality were not good so maybe that’s why they quit. I’ve been planning to get a couple for my front porch. I also found a very groovy retro-Jetson-esq patio umbrella online at http://www.inmod.com/tri-corale-sun-shade.html. knew I had seen them somewhere in Disneyland in Tomorrowland and sure enough when I was there 2 weeks ago that’s what they have, though they are quite pricey at $899 each. – if you’re into the 1960s space age modern patio stuff they are just the ticket!
Love these! And it’s great to know that Lowes has this type…I might run over there and pick up a set!!
My grandparents had a set like that in the front yard of their very rural home on Arkansas (1 mile down a dirt road). They were a shade of turquoise green, and so badly oxidized that if you sat in them, the seat of your pants would come away with green paint dust on them. But they also had a 2-seat glider that matched. Too bad C&B does not sell that as well. I’d love to have the entire set.
And we have Anita’s “Jetson-esque” umbrellas by our pools at my condo complex. One caveat about those: if the rope webbing that holds the disk in the ring starts to rot in the weather, the disk can come loose. That happened here during a windstorm last Christmas Eve. One of the aluminum disks, 5 feet in diameter, went flying Frisbee-like through the bedroom window of a unit and ended up on the bed! It might have been funny if not for the danger that someone could have been killed. Needless to say, I personally re-roped all of our umbrellas immediately!
Just a couple of notes. Many of the original chairs in this style had the tubing as a single piece, not modular (probably done this way to facilitate shipping and storage). Many of them also had holes in the seats to prevent water from pooling.
LRE King, thank you for that info. Am I right in guessing the vintage ones were also more heavy duty? And when you say the tubing was single piece not modular, do you mean – the tubing was inextricably welded to the chair (rather than screwed in when you bought it?)
Hi–what a fun set of furniture! Just sold ours this spring and maybe we’ll go vintage inspired for a new set?! I just discovered your blog today and am having a great time poking around…thanks!
The Jetson-esq umbrellas at Disneyland were of a PVC type frame with canvas material as the shade. I think the ones in the link above are a metal frame with canvas shade. I’m sure they will sail through the air quite nicely also if they should come loose. Love the look but not the price at all, so I won’t have to worry about them frisbee-ing themselves.
Also the other link to the motel chairs in my comment – they have the 2 seat glider!
Something else to note. These have a tendency to rust around the bolt holes. it might be worth it to shoot some canned clear coat over the bolt holes before assembling.
I have a set of four of these on my front porch, bright red. I got them on eBay, and they are still up, Auction # 130295921388. They were just the perfect look for my 1964 wing colonial, and they fit the 6 foot deep front porch too. I was having a time finding anything that would fit and look right.
Love this idea!! I’ve been trying to decide what to put on my back patio and the vintage set would look awesome in my ‘56 bungalow!
My neighbor has these chairs in yellow outside her 1961 Cape. I’m pretty sure hers are the real thing.
do you know where to buy the aluminum frame (woven nylon I guess) webbed rocking chairs.