Have a Seat

A friend read in my earlier post that I was in the market for more children's chairs. She had two chairs I could use and I had them the next day! Thanks, Christina!

I liked them the original color but really wanted a red chair to go with the other two. In the end, I chose to paint the smaller one and keep the larger one white, putting it in the boys' bedroom. The rocking chair that resided there previously bit the dust.

Quite a few of you wondered what steps I took to paint my various chairs. Here you have it:

::I first sanded all surfaces with a fine grain sandpaper, taking extra time to smooth all areas with chipping paint. After sanding, I wiped off all dust with a damp cloth and let dry.

::I then used a spray primer on the children's chairs. On the adult chairs I brushed on the primer.

::When the primer was dry to the touch, I sprayed each of the children's chairs a different color. This spray paint from Rust-oleum is exterior/interior paint for all surfaces. I wish I had found a non-glossy red so that it would have looked more uniform, but I'm learning to go with the flow.

The paint went on very nicely. I used two coats to catch a few spots I had missed the first time around.

The adult chairs I brushed with leftover wall paint from the library/schoolroom. (Grass Cloth by Behr.)

::After the paint was quite dry, I added an accent detail to the children's chairs using my foam alphabet stamps and black craft paint. I have multiple alphabet sets, so I used three slightly different ampersands. Why an ampersand? Occasionally I can be random. This is one of those times.

The symbol wasn't as solid and black as I had hoped after stamping, so I went back over it with the paint brush. Much better.

And then there were three. Maybe the chair family will grow again some day, but I have at least one chair per child now.
Are they perfect? Nope. I've learned that waiting till something can be done perfectly means that it will never be done (in my world). Will they hold up to scratches and dings? Not in this house. Should I have covered them with enamel? Probably. Will I have to repaint them at some point? Yep. Luckily I have extra spray paint. Do I love them? Yes. Do the boys use them? Yes.

Same answers for the big chairs. The only difference is that I covered the seats with fabric and reattached them rather than painting something on the back rest. I thought about it though...

Hopefully that answers a few questions!