Before I left for CA, I took some time to repaint this oak chair. I have plans to recover it too, but that might wait till after the holidays. There is only so much time in a day…
Its a pretty cool chair to start with! We called it "the throne" and I found it at a garage sale for $60. Someone had recovered it in leopard print. Its been at my son's for a while, but now that he moved to a Yirt (that is a whole other story) he has no space for it. And after I had all my Christmas decor up, the dark wood really stood out.
And who doesn't repaint their furniture to compliment their Christmas tree?
Since the chair was going to be part of the rest of the dining room table set, I painted it the same way I did the other chairs in there. Like in this tutorial.
But with no crackle. I didn't want it matchy matchy with the set, I just wanted it to look good together.
It had some neato designs in the wood that looked to me like they were calling out for hand painted details to be added inside the "frames"
To start, I darkened each of those frames by rubbing a dark brown paint on with a rag, keeping it inside the lines. Then I dabbed metallic gold over it.
When I paint flowers and vines, I start with dark brown, and kind of draw out the picture, with the flowers just as blobs. The dark brown is a good base color under the hand painted details and gives some dimension to the flowers.
The colors I used were sage green, dark brown, light brown, white and cream.
After the paint dried, I lightly sanded the flowers and vines, then heavily sanded all the edges and corners of the chair.
Over that, I topped it with Minwax dark walnut stain/poly in one. I don't usually care for oil based products, but they really are pretty and I had a lot left over from doing samples and trying to figure out what color I wanted my floor to be when we remodelled the kitchen.
That stuff goes on kind of tricky. If you use it, do small areas at a time, and keep plenty of paper towels or soft rags handy. Brush it on, dabbing the brush deep into details and carvings, and wipe off in the direction of the wood grain.
Remember, just a little bit at a time, it gets tacky fast and doesn't like to be wiped off.
I'm much happier with the chair now and I haven't even recovered it yet. My son is a bit sad, though, he loved it as it was.
PS-
I will be away from home for a few days, but will be checking my email while gone, so please leave a comment if you'd like to win a Cuff Tutorial. I'll be giving a couple more away when I get back.
When I return, I'll get your orders from the Boutque and Etsy out on Monday the 5th.
Congratulations on your “new” throne! I like the details you put into it, and how it now fits in well with the rest of the room.
Hope your trip is going well!
Definitely is a throne! This would take me years to do because I couldn’t paint it with the cover still on. (anal retentive?) oh well, I luv how you ‘go with your gut’ on things. Bowing to the queen of re-do’s!
Can’t wait to hear the yurt story. I enjoy reading the experiences of those who have built or vacationed in them. A relative stayed in a yurt in Ireland this fall for a weekend. It was that or a teepee.
Adventurous souls! (Does he have a blog?)
the chair looks great Karla, but ok.. whats a yirt??
xo
vivian
A yirt is a large, round tent/home. My son is in the process of making it weather proof and moving in. Ill have some photos as he gets moved in. Its pretty cool
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They are talking about doing a blog. I hope they do, they have a very interesting life going off the grid and living in the woods.
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love your painting on the chair. Once recovered it will be perfect!
Karla,
You crack me up, only you would paint a chair to match your Christmas tree, love it!
A Yurt huh??? Well that is probably better then a cave don’t you think? I say, experience those things while you are young because when you are old it won’t be fun any more!!! I love creative people.
hugs…
Karla, I am pretty sure there are at LEAST 48 hours in your days! I thought I was going to have to email you to remind me of the name of that primer you use but luckily this post had a link to the tutorial – yay! Now to see if I can find the stuff around here. Just a small Christmas project but will take a year if I try to sand it. Thanks so much for the inspiration to just DO IT! BTW, I like the leopard print with the new paint. Just sayin’.
You make it all look so easy!
It’s really a great choice to make your other pieces of furniture and for Christmas as well. I would love to say it’s really a throne.
Congratulations on your “new” throne! I like the details you put into it, and how it now fits in well with the rest of the room.
Hope your trip is going well!
Cheers,
Mike
http://www.livingfurnitures.com/sectional-sofas