Category: Furniture Redos

My sweet friend Wanda recently offered me a chair that she no longer needed.  Never being one to turn down free furniture, I gladly accepted the chair.  Thanks, Wanda!

The chair had beautiful bones (Wanda has impeccable taste), but it didn’t exactly fit my French Country/Farm House/Coastal Cottage vibe I have in my house, so I decided it needed a makeover.

First, I took off the jungle print fabric.  I must admit, I actually like this fabric, but as I said previously, it doesn’t really fit the style of my house.  It was difficult to remove because it was attached with literally hundreds of staples.  But I finally defeated it with a little help from my brother (or a lot of help).

Here is the naked chair without the fabric:

Next, I decided to paint the chair, because I wasn’t in love with the crackle finish.  I primed the body of the chair with Kilz.  Next, I gave the entire chair 2 coats of Waverly Chalk Paint in the color Hazelnut.

Then, I white-washed the chair.  I used Waverly Chalk Paint in Plaster for this.  All I did was pour a little paint into a plastic bowl and mixed a small amount of water (just a few drops) into the paint.  I used a rag to wipe the paint onto the chair and then immediately used another rag to wipe it off.  It left behind a beautiful patina.

That was going to be my last step, but I thought it needed a little extra pop, so I decided to dry brush the whole chair.  I used Waverly Chalk Paint in Truffle for this.  Dry brushing is one of my favorite techniques to make furniture stand out.  On this piece especially, because of the curves and indentations, dry brushing made all of the beautiful details pop out.

To dry brush, I use a chip brush.  I dip a very small amount of paint onto the brush.  Then I smoosh (very technical term, I know) the brush onto a paper plate to get most of the paint off.  Very lightly, I go over the area in a back and forth motion.  I go a little heavier on spots that I want to highlight.  On this chair, I concentrated on the swirls and the indentations of the legs.

Last, I added some new fabric in a beautiful buffalo check that I purchased at Hobby Lobby.  This was my first upholstered piece that I had tackled, and it was harder than I expected it to be.  I just pulled it as taut and smooth as I could get it and stapled it in place.  I then used super adhesive fabric glue to attach a black rope trim around the edges to hide the staples.

Here is the final result.  It definitely looks French Country now, so I am tickled pink with the result.

 

Let me know what you think or if you have any questions about any of the techniques that I used.  Happy painting!

My Aunt Binky has been cleaning out the house she shared with my grandparents recently.  She gave my mother an old pie safe with heart cut-outs that belonged to my grandmother.  We lost my grandma seven years ago, so my mom was very happy to happy a piece of furniture that belonged to her.  It is a very special piece.  My mom decided to use it for sheet storage in her bedroom since she was running out of space in her linen closet.  She asked me to paint the pie safe so it fit more into her style.

Here is what it looked like when she brought it home–basic oak:

I got my brother to take the doors off for me to make it easier to paint.  Since it was bare wood, I didn’t need to prime it.  My mom’s favorite color for decorating is gray, so I chose the color Mineral by Waverly Chalk Paint.

I gave the entire piece a coat of paint, including inside the shelves since they will be visible through the heart cut-outs.

Next, I dry brushed in the colors Ivory and Truffle also from Waverly Chalk Paint.  Dry brushing is one of my favorite techniques to give furniture pizazz.  I use a cheap chip brush and put a very small amount of paint on the ends.  Then I push the brush into a paper plate to get most of the paint off before I actually even touch the furniture.  With a very slight hand, I go over the entire piece of furniture.  I hit the edges a little heavier to make them stand out.  Dry brushing can bring a flat piece of furniture to life.

Last, I got my brother to add some wire to the backs of the heart cut-outs.  All he did was cut some chicken wire and staple it in place.

This is the finished piece.  I love the way it turned out!  My mom was very happy with it.

This is a cute vignette I created on top with items purchased at Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx.