We received some beautiful vintage chairs soon after we were married, and they have taken a beating over the past 11 years. In addition to the cloth seats getting very dirty from the kids, the wood had become scratched, marred, and very worn looking. We wanted to both recover the cloth and repaint, but it had to be affordable. My husband took on the endeavor, and here is what he did:
First, he took the chairs outside to sand. He used various grits of sandpaper, depending on the grain of the wood.
Then, he wiped the chairs down well and primed them with Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2X Primer spray (in black).
Finally, he did the last coat with Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2X in Gloss Kona Brown.
I couldn't believe how well this paint coated. It really brought out the detail of the carving in the woodwork, but it covered knicks and scratches perfectly with one coat!
Here are the two Rust-Oleum products my husband used... (available at Walmart for $3.77)
He chose to use a canvas painter's cloth from Walmart in the painting supply section for the seat covers. It's an affordable material, and he made the cloth more "kid-proof" by using a waterproofing spray used for boat and car seat material to help repel future stains and water. (You can find this in the camping section.)
The final project came out very nicely! Since we only have 4 of these chairs (and 7 people in our family), he used the same paint and cloth with another style of wood chair that we had, as well. The matching finish and material helped the chairs compliment each other, even though they were not the same style.
This is a simple project that can be done with one afternoon to sand, prime, and paint -- and another afternoon to staple the canvas around the seats and waterproof them.
Do you have some chairs that need a facelift? At a cost of less then $20 for the entire set of chairs, this is a high value project that can drastically improve your dining room or kitchen!
very cool! we need to do this for our dining chairs!
ReplyDelete