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{31 Days to an Eclectic Home} Day 30 – Rehabbing a Tired Chair

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Today is Day 30 of a 31 day series on creating and cultivating an eclectic home.  For some crazy reason, I have accepted The Nester’s challenge to write on the same theme every day for the month of October.  This may end up killing me.  Or you.  But, I appreciate you reading and welcome your comments.

Not too long ago, I assigned some homework to you guys.  I wanted you to find a chair to rehab so you could bring some great color into a room in your home.  As far as I’m concerned, a piece of painted furniture is one of the easiest yet most substantial changes you can make when you are aching for some color.

I, too, found a tired chair.  She was thrown in the corner of a little shop here in town, with several other items stacked on top of her.  She needed to be rescued.

Oh, the poor little chair.  She had so much potential, but she desperately needed a makeover.  Over the course of just a few days, she found a new life and now adds a fun touch to my bedroom.

How to Rehab a Tired Upholstered Seat Chair

1.  I began by removing the yucky upholestry from the chair.  I didn’t worry about pulling out the upholestry staples.  I just used my scissors and cut off the top layer of fabric and the batting.  This revealed an original layer of fabric (this chair was being made over for at least the 3rd time), and I just left that one in place.

The dust cover on the bottom was also ripped, so I removed it the same way.  If it had been in good shape, I would have just left it alone.

2.  Next, I sanded the wooden frame of the chair to remove the shine and years of grime.  I sanded with a 150 grit and then a 220 grit sandpaper.  I wiped the chair down with a wet cloth between each sandpaper grit and when I was finished.

In order to prep the chair for painting, I used ScotchBlue painter’s tape to tape off the fabric around the frame.  This isn’t absolutely necessarily, but I didn’t want to get a lot of paint on the fabric I was leaving on the chair.

3.  I primed the wooden frame of the chair with Kilz primer and a Purdy paint brush.  I prefer to prime wooden pieces with a brush or roller instead of using a can of spray primer.  It’s a personal preference, but I think the finish is much smoother when done by hand.

4.  I had some of the yellow paint left over from my dresser rehab, and I used it to paint the chair frame once the primer was dry.  Again, I just used a paintbrush.

5.  I decided that the chair needed a little depth so I {surprise! surprise!} glazed the detailing with my favorite Ralph Lauren glaze tinted to Black Silk.  I used a cheap chip brush (not my Purdys!) and dabbed the glaze into the detailing.  I worked a section at a time dabbing, wiping with a wet cloth, wiping gently with a dry cloth, and wiping only what I wanted removed with another wet cloth.  Once you have the technique down, glazing is quick and easy (although I was really scared the first time I ever attempted it).

When the glaze was dry, I added 2 coats of glossy Minwax Wipe-On poly.

6.  After the poly was dry, I sprayed some spray adhesive onto the original fabric (see why I kept it?) and laid a thin sheet of craft batting on the top.  I stapled it above the frame in a few places.  If you have access to a pneumatic staple gun (one that attaches to an air compressor) you definitely want to use it.  Otherwise, you can use a regular staple gun, but just be prepared to remove about 4/5 of the staples that don’t go in all the way.

7.  I laid the fabric over the batting, stapled it on one side, pulled it tight, and then stapled it around the frame.  I cut away the excess fabric as I went around each side.  Again, this step is made ridiculously easier with a pneumatic staple gun.

8.  Lastly, I applied a thin bead of hot glue over the staples and attached some gimp trim.  It finishes the look and hides all of those staples.

9.  My local fabric store was out of the type of fabric I like to use for a dust cover, so I haven’t added that yet.  I bought some plain cotton fabric to use, but I really like to use dust cover fabric so I’m going to wait until it’s back in stock.  I will just staple it on the bottom of the chair, folding the raw edges to the inside of the chair.

That tired little chair, once neglected at a an antique/vintage/junk shop, now has a new life in the sunny bay window in my bedroom.

Now, it’s your turn.  I challenge you to paint your chair frame any color other than black or white.  What color will you choose?

How to Stain Bare Wood

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Until we built the new bed for our master bedroom, I had never stained a piece of furniture.  Between my dislike of most stain colors and my fear that I wouldn’t be able to correctly apply the stain, I just decided that paint had to be much easier.  After staining the entire bed, I still hold my belief that paint IS much easier to apply, but stain isn’t as scary as I had imagined.

I worked with the folks at my local Sherwin-Williams store to come up with a custom formula for gray stain.  Yes, they have a pre-formulated gray stain, but it is too blue for my liking.  It took the better part of a day for the SW gals to come up with the formula – I left them a sample piece of wood and I could tell that they mixed and re-mixed the stain about five times.  Eventually, we came up with the below custom formula.

Just for the record, a gallon was far too much for my bed.  I have enough stain left over to last me until the end of time.  I feel confident that one quart would have been more than sufficient.

I sanded our bed very well and used a tack cloth to remove any left over sawdust.  When using a soft wood, such as pine, you need to apply a wood conditioner before staining.  I applied Mixwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner with a white cloth in the direction of the wood grain.  I let it sit for just a few minutes, and then wiped off any excess with a dry cloth.  You have to apply your stain in about an hour after you’ve applied the wood conditioner, so you don’t want to do this step and then save the staining for another day.

There are a few ways to apply stain, and I feel like I practiced them all on scraps before starting on the bed.  You can apply it with a rag or a brush.  You can also let it sit for varying amounts of time – the longer it sits, the darker your wood will become (up to a point).

What worked best for me and this project was applying the stain with an excellent paint brush.  The folks at Purdy sent me a package of paint brushes to test out, and I decided that using them in a way I’ve never used a brush before (i.e. applying stain instead of paint) would be a great test of their ability.

I dipped the 2-inch brush into the can of stain and just “painted” a section of the bed at a time.  I started with the back of the side rails and worked my way to the front of the headboard, so that I could make sure I was happy with my technique.  I just worked a small section at a time, and the Purdy brush worked flawlessly.  There were no dropped bristles or brush marks.  I always use Purdy brushes for my painting projects, and I’m glad to know they worked equally as well in stain.  The few dollars extra that the Purdy brushes cost are well worth it – just clean them well after each use and store them in the cardboard holders so the bristles don’t get damaged in between uses.

Now, here is where all your practicing really comes in handy.  This particular stain can instructed to let the stain sit on the wood for up to 30 minutes before wiping off.  In my climate (HOT and HUMID), that was far, far too long.  In fact, I decided that I would stain a section 3 x 3 foot section with my brush and then I’d wipe it off immediately with a soft cloth. I had to wipe pretty hard at that point to get enough stain off.   When I let the stain stand longer on my practice boards, it was far too opaque and I couldn’t see the wood grain.  If I wanted that look, I would have just painted!

After hours of brushing and wiping, I finished staining the bed.  I was happy with the way the stain turned out, but I still felt it had a slight bluish tint.  I wanted a really neutral gray to coordinate with my dresser and walls.

To solve this problem, I turned to my best friend – Ralph Lauren glaze tinted to Black Silk.  I swear, this stuff solves all problems.  I painted it on in small sections with a cheapo brush (NOT a Purdy, because you basically ruin your brush trying to get the glaze into the imperfections in the wood) and wiped it with a soft cloth.  When the glaze dried, I applied 2 coats of Minwax Wipe On Poly.  The end result is just perfect for my room.

Do you have any questions about brushes, painting, staining, or color?  Ask my friend, Lisa!  😀  HGTV designer extraordinaire, Lisa LaPorta, is answering reader questions at Purdy’s You Can Save the Walls website.  If you ask a question, you can win dinner with her.  I promise, it would be the best dinner you’ve ever attended.

Have you ever stained a piece of furniture?