Remember those chairs I painted a couple of weeks ago? Below is a “before” of one of them. I wish I had a real “before” of when I first bought her. She sported a brown walnut stain and a burgundy seat cover. When I found her she told me, “I’m tired of being one of a matched set of dining chairs in a room filled with wood everywhere I look! Paint me white, paint me white, I’m so sick of brown!” So I did.
Not long ago, she said, “I really appreciate what you did for me a few years ago, but I’m kind of tired of being white. I want to be colorful, lively!” I told her I understood completely – sometimes I like a change, too. So I painted her Benjamin Moore’s Waterbury Green, and she really liked it. I left the same fabric on her seat, and she was fine with that.
So yesterday she said to me, “I really appreciate you painting me this lively green color, I really do. But I want to feel special. Can you please make me special?” So I recovered her seat with this more glamorous fabric. She’s so much happier now!
Making a house your home is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes it’s about doing things in stages. Sometimes it’s about letting the house, or chair, reveal to you what it really wants. This chair told me it wanted to be fabulously kooky, rather than one of a matched set of 1970’s walnut stained dining chairs. When your house (or chair) talks, make sure you’re listening. Oh, and sometimes even chairs change their minds.
I’m so glad the old girl is happy! Tell her I think she looks fabulous!!!!
Ok..this may be a dumb question b/c I stink at painting projects…..but are you spray or brush painting? …For me, spray leaves drip marks and is uneven and brush leaves stroke marks. What is the magic to make it look like yours???
There are no dumb questions! You can use spray primer if you like, but I don’t recommend spray painting top coats on furniture. I use a small brush and semi-gloss paint. A little sheen looks better and is more durable than a flat finish. 2-3 coats of color (in addition to primer) usually eliminate brush marks.
love this post! i love the idea of my home talking to me. i know its asking for the leaves to be raked for sure. otherwise i need to listen more closely.
yeah, i only listen to the fun stuff . . . 🙂
Great post! So true about a home taking time and being a process. I love that you’ve given your chair her own personality. (Or maybe you are the Chair Whisperer, and just happen to speak “their” language?)
Now… what are your other chairs saying? And your other pieces of furniture…and, well, the entire house?
Since you asked – I’ve got a few other chairs that are begging to be gilded, and one show-off that’s asking for a raspberry color! My grandmother’s sofa is still thanking me for the fabulous new down sofa cushion I had made for her. And my chandeliers are telling me I need to get up on a ladder and dust them, for goodness sake! Chandeliers are SO bossy . . .
I have a chair that seems to be talking — the only problem is that six year old Elsie and I are hearing it say different things! She is hearing GOLD and PINK! and I am hearing something that sounds a lot more like Waterbury green.
hmmm, maybe you are hearing two different chairs talking – sometimes it’s hard to know exactly where the voices are coming from . . .
I was reading back through when I found this post, and I need to ask a quick question. I’m about to paint a headboard and a dresser for Meg’s room. The dresser is an antique that my mom bought for me when I was little. I really don’t want to mess it up. So do you think paint is better then spray paint? Do you use latex paint or oil based?
Don’t spray paint it!!! It will look like you did!!! If you want the longest-lasting, hardest-wearing finish, you might want to use an oil-based paint. Make sure you lightly sand, remove dust with a dry cloth, then apply oil-based primer. Oil-based is smelly and takes longer to dry – you will need to use at least 2 coats, allowing at least a day between coats. Another option is to instead use a latex primer and 2 coats of semi-gloss latex paint (after sanding). Latex primer only needs an hour before painting over it. Then 6-8 hours between topcoats. Wait a couple of days, then apply MinWax non-yellowing poly in semi-gloss. This will seal the paint and keep it from chipping. These recs are for a clean, solid finish – if you want an antiqued or aged finish, that’s a bit different . . .
Great chair! Chairs are a love of mine and this one is gorgeous! Great post…..”listening to your chair”!
That’s one chatty chair! 🙂 Still liking the Waterbury Green. Even though you don’t have a photo of it in the brown walnut stain, I can picture it in my mind and painted is SO much better. Thanks again for joining the party…
I just LOVE the way you listen to your chairs talk! I have this great old chair with a cane bottom and it has no home and looks so sad and drab. It’s an antique that was given to me. NOW I can see “her” in all her slendor if I paint her. Was always afraid as she is an “antique”, but NOW she will have a special place in our den where we LIVE. I don’t feel afraid anymore since “she ASKED me to paint her”. LOVE this article and information and LOVE YOU! This is such a cool way to look at things! XOXOXO (My chair thanks you! At LAST someone HEARS her!) XOXOXO
In all her SPLENDOR…………………….. LOL! (She IS thin, though – lucky Girl!)