Ugly Dining Room Chairs Be Gone! Before and After! Dining room sets cost a lot of money... and they aren't something that usually get replaced because they don't wear out. They sit there in your house year after year and finally even decades later you realize that they just don't go with your style anymore. But hey~you don't feel justified in replacing them as you only eat in the dining room on Christmas and Easter...maybe Thanksgiving if your sister isn't hosting. How about taking matters into your own hands and creating lemonade out of lemons? With paint and wax you can do just that! And it really works and stands up to the test of time. I have done my own set, and am here to tell you that it makes all the difference painting out ugly fabric and updating a dated wood frame using Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan of courses! Annie's paint needs no primer and it can transform fabrics as well as wood~ Here is the chair in two coats of Duck Egg and the seat with two coats of Old White. However I am not finished yet. I wanted a softer look so I dry brushed Old White over the Duck Egg. Here is a side by side before and after with the original chair fabric and frame and with the straight up application of paint on both seat cushion and frame. The only difference in painting the fabric vs the wood frame is that for the fabric I dip my brush into a bit of water so the paint is a lighter coating. Do two light coats on the fabric, drying between coats. If the pattern is still there do another light coat and let dry. Next I applied soft dry brushed stroked over the base of Duck Egg. I find using a chip brush works best for the dry brushing. After the chair fabric has been painted and dried you can lightly sand it to achieve a soft hand. Then we will wax it the next day and the seat will feel like leather. Soft and supple and plenty of protection. See you later ugly 1970s orange and gold stripes! I decided to add a ticking style stripe by taping the cushion off and painting with Duck Egg. You can lightly sand the dried painted stripes to get a softer look. You can also sand off any paint mistakes of little blobs or leaks through the painter tape! LOVE! Soft and dreamy, very french/gustavian in style! I did a pair of these that were in traditional old gold upholstery with a cream and gold frame. They are now off white and slightly antiqued. Find a link below to more on how to paint fabric on chairs! I got a set of these chairs at auction last year and painted them inspired by a Tiffany blue box. I loved them so much I brought them home and mixed them in with this set of french chairs. Before and After~these chairs were upholstered in a faux vinyl. We have been sitting on them for about a year now and they show no signs of wear!! And if they did, I would simply add another coat of paint! We are offering an Ugly Dining Room Chair workshop at the new store in August if you want to sign up. Look for it online as I am taking a limited amount of students. You will get help in painting your chair in a rustic french, gustavian, shabby chic or traditional style. Then you can go home and paint the rest of your chairs to match!! And you will have a brand new look in your home. Problem solved! Another interesting thing we are working on in the workshop right now is this gleaming gold cylinder table. It came out of an office lobby after they decided to update their space. Its metal and has a high sheen. See my pink workout pants?? Thats a very high shine! I took some sandpaper to it and gave it a ten minute sanding~ Work both ways, cross graining as you sand. You can see the sanded marks...I used 120 grit. Now what makes this an interesting project is that this table came out of Boston Sand and Gravel company. They manufacture cement and concrete and that kind of stuff. One of my first shoppers who came into Maison Decor works there and she suggested that the company hire me to paint them to look like concrete! Colin started painting the cylinder with French Linen. Goes on like a dream~ We did two coats of French Linen. Then brushed on some Fine Stone (we sell this online) Then we used our artistic brains and dry brushed lighter shades of grey over the darker French Linen base. The left side is done, the right side is waiting for paint~ Voila! Finished product looks pretty much like concrete!! A little side by side comparison. Not our average custom job but we loved stepping outside the box and seeing if we could give our customer what she wanted. In other news~ I brought Dillon to work with me today. I love this dog!!! He is such a great dog, but I usually don't bring him as I think people might get afraid of such a big handsome dog. We have some crazy times ahead....look for wacky posts to ensue. I still do not have the keys to the shop and plan to be open on July 15th! So that means lots of work ahead of us. The other thing that is happening is that Justin and Madison are moving into our home this week~we have an apartment in the basement that Colin graciously vacated so they can live with us and save money for their future. We will be living and working together~no escaping each other from tomorrow on in..... and Sylvia will be coming too of course. They stopped by the shop to pick up some boxes today. And off they went~moving day! We have another exciting announcement as far as the stores go, and as soon as I ink the deal I will spill it all here. I have added more workshops online~ check in over there to see what is new! www.shopmaisondecor.com More on painting chairs and upholstery here.