Happy Tuesday! I was actually hoping to share this with you yesterday, but my host had a major server attack that took almost two days to correct. My blog was down all of Sunday and most of Monday, but the issue is corrected now! Anyhow, you guys know how much I dig bentwoods around here, so when I found a set on craigslist this past Fall, I couldn’t pass them by. I love them in their wood finish and brought them to the barn just like that, but unfortunately they just weren’t selling. This month we are having a “Fresh Start” event at Sweet Clover to celebrate a new beginning for us as well as a new year for all. In the very front of the barn, Sarah and I are staging a dining area and we wanted to bring in mint, so I thought it was about time I paint these bad boys. (And pardon the lighting… I would have loved to wait for perfect lighting to shoot these chairs, but I had to shoot them and load them into my car!)
They started out life as worn out old wooden bentwoods. Here’s a peek of them from our October sale at Sweet Clover.
I loved them in all of their vintage-ness, but a girl can only have so many bentwoods in her home before she needs an interbention (get it? hehe).
I had the exact shade of pale mint in my head that I wanted to see on these chairs, and couldn’t find the “perfect” color so decided to mix a bit. I picked up a can of Amy Howard One Step Paint in “Barefoot in the Park” which is a lovely green, but it was a little too saturated for me. I already had a teeny bit of Bauhaus Buff and I had a good bit of Nottaway left over as well. (By the way, I did purchase the paint for this project at my local Ace Hardware, but this is not at all a sponsored post- I just really like this paint and wanted to use it!)
Before I got to work mixing colors, I gave the chairs a good cleaning. Amy recommends using Simple Green to clean first. I recommend that as well, but I put my Simple Green in a safe place, meaning I have no idea where I put it. So don’t tell Amy, but I used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser instead. Whenever I have used a magic eraser on painted furniture it’s dulled the finish, so I figured it might be good at removing any grease and grime. It worked beautifully, but hopefully I can locate my safe place before the next project!
After wiping all 4 chairs down, I worked with the paint to mix the color I wanted… I tried Nottaway with Barefoot at first and was not please… it was too much of a gray green. I only had a teeny bit of Bauhuas left, but I tried mixing that with Barefoot and loved it. I mixed approximately 1 part white to 18 parts green…. like I said it was a very small amount left, but it was enough to make a difference.
I used a round Amy Howard brush which works beautifully on chairs- if you paint furniture you know that chairs are the devil. I applied two coats, allowing plenty of dry time in between. Once they were dry, I applied a light coat of Amy Howard light antiquing wax, feathering it on with a chip brush. Once the wax was applied and dried, I used a rag to buff for a slight sheen and harder protection. I wanted a clean and simple vintage finish on these chairs- nothing fancy or overdone. I just wanted their shape to shine.
I staged them in my own dining room so that I could show them to you, but I prefer the black ones I have so they’ll be staying put.
I told you earlier this year that I was going to make our house more “us” and accept the fact that 3 dogs and a family of four live here. So to keep it real I have not edited out one major flaw in our dining room that drives me bananas. See if you can spot it. Hint- it’s due to the dogs, really one dog in particular. Not to name names, but Catcher.
Speaking of the dogs, while I was shooting, this is what I was working around…
Snowball pretty much moved wherever I was, Catcher was lounging in front of the cabinet, and Jake was tucked away in the corner on his new orthopedic bed (which he LOVES, by the way! I ordered it from here from Overstock, and it’s been so great for this old man! He normally uses the head rest, but in the image above he was passed out and his head slid right off.)
Anyhow, I don’t want this post to take a detour with our furry friends, so back to the chairs…
I really love how this color turned out on these chairs- it’s so soft and pretty!
Because my blog was down and I was delayed in sharing these, I was able to snap a photo of them staged at Sweet Clover after I delivered them yesterday. (And pardon the dust… cleaning day is Thursday!)
I wanted them to be close in color to the gorgeous fabric on the upholstered end chairs, which you may recognize from Sarah Dorsey. I am very fortunate in that Sarah lives not far from me and has just started consigning some of her gorgeous pieces at Sweet Clover! That bar cart on the table is also Sarah Dorsey Design!
It’s been a long time since I shared a furniture makeover here, so I hope all enjoyed it. Who knows when another will be coming your way. 😉
I’ll be back tomorrow to share a little more about our “fresh start” as well as more photos from Sweet Clover!
