Colonial Windsor Chairs

Windsor chairs were generally thought of as “out door” chairs or garden chairs and even the “poor man’s chair” in the colonial days of the United States. These chairs are complex with joinery techniques that made them strong enough to last for generations with just moderate care.

These chairs are finished with the traditional milk paint which is durable enough for some out-door use and it was available to the early American chair maker. Most of the Windsor styles are made with the traditional oak, pine and maple species of wood and then painted. However, I often make the elegant fan-back Windsor in natural oil finished hardwood such as walnut.