Painting Furniture

I love to paint.  I know that might make you cringe, but it doesn't matter what needs painting, I get excited just at the thought of it.  Nothing perks me up like a freshly painted wall!  In fact, my husband says the only thing holding up the walls in our 20+ year old house is the layers and layers of paint on the walls!

I love picking out the colors and even the random weekend trip to Home Depot has me gravitating to the paint chip display.  Maybe it's a childhood thing...my mom used to hide "rainy day" stuff in the cupboard on top of the refrigerator and there was always a brand new box of Crayolas with the built in sharpener...ooh! I can smell them just thinking about it...there's nothing like a new box of crayons!

So, I don't know if it's Spring that's sparking my creativity again, but I've decided to dedicate some time each week to paint some furniture to sell in the shop.  We had some pieces in the Upland store when we first opened but the day-to-day chores of running a store quickly took precedence and it was hard to find time to paint...let alone scout out the furniture!

First on the list ~ this lonely little chair:

I love the turned legs and the harp on the back.  The seat was a disgusting cream vinyl with so much goo stuck to it, I didn't even want to touch it!

I removed the seat and cleaned the piece with a little TSP.

The color looks a little blue in this photo - sorry!  But it's actually a light dove grey.  I love the look of chalk paint furniture and have been itching to try the technique.  I mixed the color myself and because I'm cheap frugal, I made my own chalk paint, too.

I highlighted the details with some cream colored chalk paint and finished the whole piece off with 3 coats of paste wax (first clear, then dark, then clear).

I upholstered the seat in this super cute chevron print.  I just love the finished product!

The paste wax makes the paint finish feel so great...just like a new crayon ;)

Until next time...

~Mary