To paint, or not to paint?

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm not so sure that I believe in global warming.  :) It seems like global freezing over here.  While I shoveled snow this morning, my neighbor said they reported 19 inches at the airport, and three more inches expected tonight.  (that is in addition to what we had the other day)  With President's Day on Monday and being off both Thursday and Friday, the kids have a five day weekend.  I decided to forgo the treadmill this morning, because I knew I would get plenty of exercise.  :)  I got to the point where I didn't know where to put the snow anymore!  I'm just grateful that my shovel has survived all these snow storms, and that the sun came out to melt what was left of the ice underneath.

Grace enjoying a couple of icicles a week or so ago...

Okay, so back to the chairs.  After we put the flooring in (yes, still no baseboards!) I decided to rearrange my sun room.  The furniture was just too big for the room...which makes sense because it is technically the dining room.  I was on the hunt for two inexpensive arm chairs.  It was a challenge because I wanted two matching ones.  I also didn't want to buy used fabric upholstered chairs because I am funny about that (I never know what might be lurking in the cushions).  So, I wanted something that could be easily cleaned for my piece of mind.  Something like...maybe leather?  Or naugahyde like my vintage green chair.  I wanted arms so that they would be comfortable, AND, they could only be about 22 inches deep so that they would be a perfect fit in the room. (not too big). 

I looked all over craigslist, local thrift stores, and ebay.  I finally found a pair on ebay that I thought would work.  They were in New Jersey, so I had to give it a lot of thought.  After a few weeks, we decided to go for it.  They were a good price (about $185 for both), but we had to rent a van so we needed to include that as well as gas into the price.  At first I freaked out a bit when I saw them because they were not as blue as in the picture, but I decided they would still work.

I am trying to decide whether or not to paint the wood a cream color and then distress it.  They are really good pieces, but definitely vintage.  Real leather with some cracking, but I don't mind.  They were high end office furniture chairs by Stowe and Davis.  Very comfortable.  I'm going to sell the cream chair and a half on the left.  What do you think I should do?  Leave them or paint them?  If I paint the wood, should I paint it cream?

They actually match the plaid in this vintage typewriter case that I picked up at an auction long ago.  It's so fun, you just open up the case and the typewriter is built right in.

For now, I have a canvas painters' dropcloth on my sofa.  The green upholstery was starting to look its age, and I didn't think it would go well with the chairs.  Its not too bad though, even though we bought it close to probably 15 years ago!  I am so glad I decided back then to pick a solid colored sofa.  I think that solid colors stay in style a lot longer than patterned ones such as floral or plaid.  Of course, there are always exceptions to that.  I am a big believer in choosing classic furniture that will last many years.  And, you can always switch out the pillows for stylish decorating.

With all the snow we have had this winter, and with new floors, I bought this boot tray from Ballard Designs.  It's the only decorative one I could find.

So, what do you think?  Should I paint my ebay chairs?