Chair Makeover

refinished vintage white chair with valspar gloss spray paint

I found some chairs on craigslist (I mentioned them in my kitchen post) a while ago and I really liked their petite shape and knew immediately that I could make them look “fresh”.


(this is the actual photo from CL)

I love the little bunny ear design.

I started with the good old sanding and TSP cleaning to prep their surface for priming.

sanded vintage craigslist chair before picture

I primed and painted only one chair first to make sure that I wanted to commit all 4 chairs to the same color. Yes, I know, I went with white again, but the fabric that I had in mind just looks best with white.
I primed them and painted them in a glossy white.

While the paint was drying, I started on the seats. I was able to salvage the old wooden seats and I love the Wavery fabric that I picked.

chair seat with foam, batting and fabric before stapling

I laid out the 1/2″ foam, batting and fabric. Each a little wider than the other as you can see on the picture.

Wow, what’s up with the veins in my hands by the way?

Then I tightly stapled it all in place.

Tada, here is my first chair. Isn’t the fabric lovely?

refinished vintage white chair with green, grey and white Waverly fabric

green, grey and white floral waverly fabric

refinished white vintage chair with green, grey and white floral waverly fabric

But my headline was chair dilemma… so you are wondering what’s the problem? Well there are 3 chairs that aren’t painted yet. And that’s where the whole thing starts.

Sigh!

I was so eager to get the other chairs primed and sanded but nothing worked out. I followed the same procedure as before but the paint just kept crackling and bubbling.

Only one of the darn 4 chairs has perfect paint.

I HATE WHEN THIS HAPPENS!

I mean, I followed the painting laws to a “T” and still only one is perfect. Sand, clean with TSP and dusting it with a tack cloth, then priming, fully letting it dry and then applying the glossy paint. I even have a thermometer in the garage to ensure the correct temperature.

Hmmm…I’m starting to think that some spray paints (I’ve used them all) are better than others and I should post my spray paint review one day but I need to cool down first…

Now I have to sand again. But I couldn’t wait to share a picture of my ONE perfect chair.

And when all the others are finished, meaning re-sanded and painted, they will be looking for a good home. I only felt the need to nursing them back to health!

What’s your experience with the spray paints and primers? I’d love to know.

Talk to you soon fellow webbers und guten Tag!

6 Comments

Late getting to this post, I know! I love how your chair turned out and really, really hope that you managed to get them all sorted, in the end. It seems a pity that you won’t be keeping them, after such hard yakka, but I guess you can’t hang on to everything! :)Cheers, Hx

I just thought of something else… I bought a vintage Danish day bed off eBay a few months ago, and haven’t as yet been brave enough to tackle the refinish. I’m not even sure where to start! Do you have any pointers and tips to get this project under way??? DH keeps saying, “no more eBay purchases until you get this one finished”…and I’m kinda itching to see it transformed, and eager to do some more shopping! ;-)) Thanx, Hx

Julia Konya says:

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LOL, my DH keeps getting annoyed with my purchases as well.
Why don’t you start with a fun fabric that catches your eye and go from there? That usually works for me.
Thanks for stopping by!

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Forget all those painting ‘rules’. Use Annie Sloan chalk paint. You’ll never go back!

I live in SW FL and always have spray paint issues…..I just keep on spraying. Love your chairs and your ideas. Thanks a bunch for sharing with us.

I love the chairs! Where did you find the fabric? I have bins from TJ Maxx in that fabric, and would love to find the matching Waverly fabric to make some curtains for my family room… Thanks!

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