If you have been reading my previous posts (hopefully!), two things might be clear to you by now. I am impatient and I love anything that says ‘easy’! Still, I have had this deep urge to undertake a painting project. Like a small chair or stool or at least a flower-pot!
Guess what? After weeks of deliberation and hours of internet browsing, I was ready. Here again, I took the easy way out. Everyone seems to use varnish strippers, orbital sanders, primers, paints and acrylic top coats. Phew! I went to a trusty home improvement store and asked around. I found this fantastic thing called a paint and primer in one! The world surely must be full of lazy bugs like me!
Enough of my ramblings! Here is the boring before. It is a wooden chair without the back-rest. I use it around the house to prop up plants, and even our 4-ft Christmas tree. It is the perfect height for odd jobs like that!
I cleaned it and sanded it ‘fairly’ well. Then I decided to just finish painting the legs and stain the wooden seat.
It didn’t go exactly as planned. There were some really dark patches on the seat after staining. Maybe because of insufficient sanding or maybe the wood type. Anyway, I did a couple of coats of stain and let the color develop for a few days.
Once it was completely dry, I decided to buff it with some oil. I read somewhere about using coconut oil to shine furniture. Given the cost of coconut oil here, guess what I used?
Sesame seed oil!! It worked like a charm!
Here it is all finished and ready to go.
It is not entirely perfect. But, I love it! Especially, for my first attempt. It adds just the right pop of color to a drab corner. I styled it with a simple arrangement of twigs in a vase.
Or how about this sweet choo-choo train?
This is what I used in my project:
- Paint – Olympic One Interior Semi-gloss Enamel in Just Jazz.
- Stain – Minwax in Early American Wood finish.
- Sandpaper – Medium grit 120. (I reused the used sheets to act as fine sandpaper.)
- Nylon 2-in paint brush and a small craft paint brush to get around the spindly legs.
Now, you know I just can’t let things be. So I painted some terracotta pots in shades of blue and a mint green sample paint. More on that coming soon.
And I finally painted my jewelry holder branches!
I am thinking of painting our patio rug too. I have been seeing that in blog-land a lot. What do you think?
It is true that a fresh coat of paint CAN transform anything! I am a covert, how about you?
Have you tried your hand at painting your furniture?
I am linking up to Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House, DIY Furniture Transformation Challenge at The CSI Project, It’s The Little Things at Thrifty Decor Chick, Before & After Competition at House Of Hepworths, and parties at these awesome blogs.
- C.R.A.F.T
- A Blossoming Life
- Skip To My Lou
- Making The World Cuter
- Pinkapotamus
- The Dedicated House
- Between Naps on the Porch
- Keeping It Simple
- Cupcakes And Crinoline
- Home Stories A To Z
- Mom 4 Real
- My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
- Coastal Charm
- Elizabeth & Co
- Nap Time Creations
- Housewife How-To’s
- Daisy Cottage Designs
- Savvy Southern Style
- Southern Lovely
- Adorned From Above
- Lil’ Luna
- Not Just A Housewife
- High Heels and Grills
- The Shabby Creek Cottage
- House of Hepworths
- 52 Mantels
- Mom on Timeout
- Katie’s Nesting Spot
- Somewhat Simple
- Domestic Superhero
- Lambert’s Lately
- All Things With Purpose
- Living Well Spending Less
- Made In A Day
- The Shabby Nest
- Redfly Creations
- Create Craft Love
- Finding Fabulous
- French Country Cottage
- Common Ground
- Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
- My Romantic Home
- The Charm of Home
- Crafts a la Mode
- Love of Family and Home
- Design Dining and Diapers
- Tatertots and Jello
- Serenity You
- Reasons To Skip The Housework
- DIY Show Off
- Its So Very Cheri
- Under the Table and Dreaming
- Its Overflowing
- Nifty Thrifty Things
Very creative to use a chair in that way! Great job, I bet you are a painting convert now. I am a painting addict:) Thanks for sharing it!
Krista @thehappyhousie
Thank you! Painting this little piece was a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to try more!!
What a beautiful job on your first project! I’m sure there will be more to come! I love the paint and primer in one too!
Oh, thank you for the sweet comment!
It turned out so pretty. Love the blue! Thank you for sharing this at the Anything Blue Friday party at The Dedicated House. Hope to see you again at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thanks for visiting. Appreciate the comment.
I can relate to that impatience! It went away when I found myself wanting to paint more pieces. 🙂 Great job! I especially like the contrast of the wood top with the painted legs. The colors complement each other very well.
Thanks for visiting.
I am so in love with the blue too. Glad it turned out OK, considering it is my first attempt.
Oh, my goodness!! I LOVE that chair without the back. I think I have some old chairs that I could do that to. Thanks for the inspiration! Linda
Thanks for visiting! So glad to have planted an idea in your mind. Go for it!!
I love it too! I have yet to do a paint project. Yours is inspiring! Nice job!
Thanks for visiting. It took a long while for me to commit to painting it. I hope the painting bug bites you soon!
I think your first piece came out lovely!! (My first piece was a wreck of an end table, which I also painted the legs and bottom and stained the top. If you wanna, you can come and see it at my blog, but you don’t have to– lol) Keep up the creative stream and just keep going! What do you have to lose? Nothing! GO GIRL!
Visiting from Savvy Southern Style’s WOW linky party.
Smiles, Suz @MaytagnMom
NW Illinois
Thanks so much for visiting and encouraging!
I saw your post on the end table. You can never go wrong with white and wood!!
You did a great job! I love it 😉
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com
Thanks for visiting!
I love that you’ve used an old chair to make a sweet little table! Hmmm, if only I had seen that a few weeks ago lol.
Jenny from diywithjenandb.blogspot.com
Thanks for visiting! Hope you get your hands on a makeover candidate soon!
Very neatly done. Doesn’t look like your first!
Thanks for the compliment! It definitely helped that it was such a small piece.
Love the pretty blue! I popped over from Serenity You–thanks for sharing!
~Abby =)
Thanks for visiting!
Lovely and a perfect shade of blue. I agree, you will find it hard to stop painting now that you have begun! I always have several projects on the go.
Thank you. I initially wanted a slightly darker blue, but then decided on this shade.
Hey, I spied some blue chairs at your blog too. It makes such a cute impact, right?!!
Thank you for linking up to The CSI Project. I think your project looks great – and someone clearly has a thing for painting things blue haha! This week I am working on repainting a TV unit, and instead of using a brush I am using a roller – it goes 5 times as fast and no brush strokes – I am in love!
Thanks for the comment. And good tip about the roller. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Fabulous makeover and I love the little Easter train!
Thanks for visiting!
I got the train at a thrift store last year. So cute, I couldn’t resist!!
Love the two tone look! Great job.
Thanks. I am glad it turned out OK!
Too Cute!!! But, beware. Painting furniture is a disease. And, I think maybe you’re already hooked. If you get a chance, come over to PICKINandPAINTIN.blogspot.com and see some of my projects. Oh, and Im your newest follower.
Candy
Thanks for the word of advice! Took a peek at your blog and you have got some amazing makeover projects.
I love that you decided to leave the top wood-tone. Such a cool look!
It looks better with a stained wood top, right? I went back and forth a lot of times, before finally deciding on the stained top look. Glad you liked it!
It turned out beautifully! I’m obsessed with two-tone funiture painting as of late.
I found you through the Thrifty Thursday Blog Hop 🙂
Thank you! I took a peak at your blog, and it is so lovely!
This is so cute!! I would love for you to come by and link this or another project at my link party!! Hope to see you! http://domesticsuperhero.com/2013/04/11/sharing-with-domestic-superhero-thursday-6/
Thank you! I have linked up!!