Design Advice Tulip Table Fake with Bellini Chair  

ooo!
I like those chairs! I think they'll look great. The colors are all nice, too.
I have a fake Saarinen base in bare aluminum which I plan to buff to a soft lustre and to which I'll add a cherry or walnut veneer top (custom milled). I have four teak N.O. Møller chairs (link below) to put around it. It'll be in our family room for games and stuff. More of an eclectic look.
Have you looked into powder coating for the base? I'm not sure how that is different from auto body painting but I like how it looks. I think it's a good idea because those older finishes seem to stain pretty easily. And since it's a knockoff, who cares if you repaint it?

spanky...
With auto body painting, they just spray the paint on the object...
With powder coating they put electricity on the object so it becomes static,... Then they spray powder, that sticks onto the object. The object is then put thru some sort of oven, that "bakes" the powder on it. The result is a much thicker and harder finish than ordinary spray paint. Powder coating your table base wil cost you a lot more than spray painting it though...
greets,
goOve!
http://www.alfa7.be

Thanks for your input..
I know that folks frown on fakes but sometimes the real deal just isn't practicle. If powder coating costs more, I'll stick with the autobody shop. And thanks Spanky for helping me relax, you're right if it's a fake who cares if I paint it. I went to DWR and tried out a few chairs and the Bellini is definately it. I think I'll paint the base to match the chair when I decide which color. There's a new "Ultra Bellini" which is shiny white or black vs. the usual matte finish. Those chairs won't be available until Sept. or Oct.
Oh and I can picture the teak chairs with the cherry/walnut top and the buffed aluminum base! Really nice look! Enjoy

Update
Well I told my Artist friend about the Autobody shop, he balked, produced an airbrush and painted my base for free. The end result is quite nice.
But I must tell you about my chairs!! I needed chairs in time for a dinner party this week. I went to DWR and it was 5-7 days for delivery, not fast enough. So I called the Heller showroom directly and they had chairs instock and were willing to sell them at a discount with no taxes!!!! Last night I walked out with my chairs and I couldn't be more pleased. Thanks Heller for saving the day!

Powder coating
Powder coating is actually quite reasonable if you can meet the minimum. The cost problem is that they have to set up the whole line for each color. So there a minimum cost if you do one little end table or a set of 8 Bertoia chairs. BUT if you have a couple pieces to do it's quite reasonable. I just had a large Knoll Saarinen 42" tulip table base and a tulip side table base done recently, the side table was $70 the big table $180. It's as tough as the original poly coat and looks identical.

Tell me about it!!!
I may need to powdercoat my base anyway. I had a death in the family recently so there's been more traffic than usual (visiting family) through my kitchen. Which is way I needed those chairs fast. Now that my table is getting some serious use, DIRTY SHOES ON MY WHITE TABLE BASE ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY! LOL. My friend airbrushed it with white primer which looks nice but doesn't clean up well. I'm thinking powder coating would be easier to clean and durable.
If you can recommend a place in the NYC area I'll give it a try.

Do the base a dirt color?Whit...
Do the base a dirt color?White is very unforgiving. Really, fake tulip bases look "real" in many cases we must keep in mind Eero did not invent the ped base concept...BELLINI is a very good designer great choice,question how do the chairs hold up can you see them lasting say 25 years>

Laughing Alot!!
I wish I liked the color of dirt! LOL That would be the easiest solution huh! lol
As for the Bellini Chair, I really like it. It's all one piece of molded fiberglass so there's no joints, slats, screws etc. where a chair usually breaks down. The back of the chair flexes when you sit and that has alot to do with it's comfort. I spilled soda on one yesterday and the chair easily wipes clean. They appear to be durable, I can see this chair lasting 25 yrs.

Powder coating
My local shop has a $150 minimum but for a common color will cut that to $100. A big tulip base will easily meet his minimum ( I had my 1960's Knoll base done for $180) but I live in San Francisco. Type 'powder coating new york city' into google and you'll get all sorts of choices, mostly Staten island and NJ. It cleans beautifully. For regular dirt I clean it with windex. Heavier dirt I use formula 409. I have a tulip side done 10 years ago and it's perfect. No chipping from the vacuum or the dogs. No change in the color. You'll have a wide variety of choices for color and gloss and since it's not a real knoll be daring with the color. Match the chair color or complement/contrast it. Have some fun.

OK will do....
I chose the Dove Gray chairs so I guess I could paint the base Dove Gray. Not very exciting but I like the neutral look. Or maybe a bright red or blue, that would go nicely with the gray. And it won't show dirt like white.

Powder colors
Since the chairs are gray and the top Arabescato marble I'd take one of the darker tones out of the marble. Not black just a deep gray with the same warmth as the chair gray. The base will all but vanish and the marble float above the chairs.

Please
dont try to match a color tone in the marble exactly go for harmony you see in the marble...people have been known to go insane...

Hmmmm......
There are some nice shades of gray in the arabescato marble. I wouldn't dare go crazy trying to match exactly, I learned my lesson with that already.

What color for new paint of Tulip Base
Hello:
I have a Saarinen steel tulip based 42" white (Formica?) topped table that needs to have the base painted. (Slight rust stains beginning to appear and chair leg chips.)
I read with interest, here, that some have tried powder coating the base.
What color matches the '60's white of my table (by color name) and has anybody removed the top to paint the base.? (I can't easily get the table out of the room it's now in without removing the top.
Many thanks for any ideas for methods, paints and color names.
(Oh, yes, I've thought of spray painting the base with a satin paint but cannot find canned whites that are off-white enough to match the curved bottom lip's slightly eggshell/almond color.)