These chairs were ugly indeed in desperate need of some serious love and care. I saw a post on Craigslist and announced to my husband that I was going down the street to pick up some chairs. Two trips later, I came home with a dresser, a nightstand and 5 chairs. My husband shook his head when he saw me unloading the furniture, probably concerned that I may be becoming a hoarder. The good news is that I negotiated these chairs down to almost nothing.
I had a clear vision for these chairs but I have to admit that I questioned my decision to buy them several times. When I started cleaning these beasts I thought "what did I get myself into"? They were dusty and the foam inside was disintegrating.
The Before
The After
A-mazing! As soon as I put one coat of paint on them I started to see the potential, and it only got better from there. Because they are made out of pine wood, they have several indentations and I thought I would want to distress them to hide the imperfections but I ended up just embracing the chairs as they were, imperfections included. Here is the proof that there is real beauty in imperfections.
I ended up trying two different fabrics but fell in love with this navy and ivory damask print from Joanns. I though it gave the chairs a sophisticated and updated look.
These chairs are currently in our dining room, making for half of the chairs around our dining table (the other half are wicker) and giving the room a French cottage look. What do you think?
Technique: I decided to try an alternative to chalk paint for these chairs. As much as I love Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I can't always find the color I want and it is expensive. I had experiemented with this concoction before on a small piece and it worked wonderfully. I bought Behr Navajo White in flat finish, mixed with Plaster of Paris (3/4 paint to 1/4 plaster ratio), mixed up a storm and had home made chalk paint. I applied two coats of paint and one coat of Minwax Finishing Paste to seal, a little buffing and voila! Made In Joy!
As for the upholstering, I removed the old ugly yucky fabric, cleaned the wood board and foam inserts thoroughly and then just went to town cutting the fabric to the measurements, wrapping around the foam plus wood board and stapling the fabric to the back. Luckily these cushions were secured with a velcro attached to the chair so I just replaced them with new ones. Pretty simple.
Price: priceless, these are keepers!
No comments:
Post a Comment