sit on it

This whole project started because of the Studio Sale and the fact that I suddenly ran out of cello envelopes and had to make a hasty trip to the art supply store.  That and the fact that I'm still on the hunt for furniture.  So, I popped into the store to find cellos.   Because we live in a wickedly awesome small town, our art supply store also doubles as an antique shop.  Therefore, before I could even get inside the doors to make my purchase, this trio of chairs was staring at me.  It was love.  Cheap, solid wood love.  They came home with me and the cellos and it was love.

That night I decided I needed to paint the pair of rush chairs.  You might even call it a rush job...maybe...no?  Ok.  So, in the car I hopped to Lowe's to pick up paint.  Which led to me talking to a newfound kindred spirit in the hardware aisle.  Which is just awesome!

This was the first chair I have painted in a long time and my first ever rush bottom.  In fact, before Cyprus, I had an aesthetic aversion to rush bottoms.  So this whole process became some of a trial and error.  Luckily there were two chairs, so one of them got more of the error while the other got the reward.  Based off of this, I can offer a pretty solid plan of attack.

To start with, sand down the chair to get a smooth surface and to remove the top layer of whatever is on it.  I used a finer grade as the chairs where in pretty good condition.  Once the chair is smooth, wipe it down to remove the dust created from sanding.  

Next is the pivotal step that I completely blanked.  If your chair has a rush or upholstered seat, cover it! I don't know what was going on in my brain, but I skipped over this and one of the chairs has a big red spot on the rush seat.  For a $6 chair, I'm not going to stress over that, but I would have been livid with myself for doing that on a nicer chair.  Take the time to cover the chair and save yourself years of heartache.

Once the tape has been taped, paint away.  I used a thick, high-gloss, oil based paint by Rustoleom.  This paint is amazing!!! All it took was one thick layer and a few touch-ups to cover the chair. The paint is so thick, that even with that coat, it didn't even look like I had used any of my quart.  The color (Emergency Red) is so vibrant and the gloss so shiny.  Even better for my budget and laziness, this paint was off the rack at Lowe's.  No special mixing, no surcharges for high-end paint.  Just a quart that will last me forever and yields an incredible finish.

  For paint and chairs, I ended up spending $22, less than what I would be able to find a single chair for.  I have dreams of using these chairs at our future table in our House of Dreams kitchen.  Wouldn't they look great against white subway tiles and butcher block counters?  Someday..

Don't forget to come back every day this week for more projects!