Spring Back Banker's Chair

Materials: 4 laminate bent Ikea legs and two seats from antique banker's chairs

Description: My friend Veronica gave me two Ikea chairs she had in her apartment in Hollywood. They were laminate bent leg living room chairs that had no arms. The cushions smelled like cat pee so I threw them out. I kept the frames five-ever because the bent wood seemed too good to throw away. I also had these oak banker's chairs with broken legs. Again I just couldn't throw them away because they seemed too good.

One day I got sick of all of them hanging around, taking up space and not paying rent! I tried to throw them away, but I ended up taking them apart and reassembling all four chairs into one chair. It was too much fun! We use it in my living room and it is kind of a hit because it is bouncy with the bend wood and the springs from the bankers chairs.

One of our guests told me about your blog. The only problem is I can't find the name of the Ikea chairs I got the legs from. I looked on the website but it is not the POANG chair. The ones I used didn't have arms. However, they both have that plastic wedges that stop the chair from rolling forward. I think that is a unique Ikea detail. Hopefully, you might recognize the chairs this was made from.

To make it I took both Ikea chairs and removed all of the cross members and bolts. Then I lined the bent legs up together. I noticed all of the holes for the through bolts lined up perfectly so I took some threaded rode and cut it to the combined width of all four legs plus enough room for a bolt cap on each side. I put some Loctite on the thread ends and bolted them together.

The bankers chair seats are held onto the chair with through bolts and threaded inserts I mounted into the bottom of the oak seats. I took the springs off the banker's chairs and mounted them to the Ikea legs by screwing 2 chunks of closet rod to them. The springs just rest over them and the seat of the chair just rests on the springs. The springs actually fit into a recess in the oak seats perfectly locking it in place. It was all just very lucky. I hope you enjoy it.

~ Andrew Riiska, Los Angeles