Mini Chair Makeover - Before and After

Before: Ugly and Gross - After: Crisp and Cute

First, I went to the Christie Antique Show in Hamilton, Ontario and saw this teeny antique chair. Of course I had to have it. I was too shy to barter so my brave Aunt offered the dealer $20 and he took it. Yeah!

Instead of simply sanding and re-painting it, I decided to go all out and strip it down to bare wood first. It had three different paint colours all built up and crusty: beige, white, and light turquoise. I started off stripping and scraping the paint off with an old paint stick and it was taking a long time. Alex felt sorry for me and bought me a metal paint scraper. Things started moving along after that.

Next, I sanded the entire chair with 150 grit sandpaper to remove all of the leftover bits of paint.

All sanded and ready to go.

Then I painted the chair with a good-quality primer.

I used Fresh Start by Benjamin Moore.

Once the primer dried, I painted two coats with Benjamin Moore's Simply White in a flat finish. Must. Have. Flat. Finish.


Finally, to add a whimsical touch, I used my computer to size and print a star onto cardstock, cut it out, and traced it onto the seat of the chair. I then used painter's tape to mark off the outline of the star.


I also used a thin bead of caulking along the tape lines so the paint didn't bleed under. Finally, I painted the inside of the star with a lovely greyish-blue (Grey Timber Wolf by Benjamin Moore).


Ta da! Roary's friend has a new chair to squoosh his bottom on when he/she comes home:


P.S. The very last step (which I have yet to do) will be to use an acrylic sealer (matte finish) over the chair in order to protect it from grubby fingers. I bought the brush-paint-on kind but it also comes in a spray can.

Hope you like it!

Linked to: Before and After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick