I wanted to share with you a DIY I’ve been meaning to do for ages.
I have this chair which I got for under £5 from a second hand store which is sturdy and well made, but it had been painted in that awful wishy-washy shabby chic style. An insipid yellow and then sanded to look aged and mock-vintage.
Here’s what the chair looked like before the makeover:
I wanted to give it a new lease of life with a bolder appearance and one that would contrast with the white table it sits next to. I’ll share with you what I did to achieve the look.
What you’ll need
- Rust-Oleum chalky finish furniture paint in: Mustard, Powder Blue, Dusky Pink, Belgrave, Sage Green (for the spindles) and
- Rust-Oleum chalky finish furniture paint in Emerald Green for the main body of the chair
- Brushes of a variety of sizes for large flat areas and difficult to reach areas
- Sand paper
- Masking tape
Set up
So with my favourite chalky Rust-Oleum paint purchased, newspaper plastered EVERYWHERE and windows screeched open, let’s begin.
Step One: Sanding
I sanded the entire chair down to remove any ridges of paint so I was working on an even surface. This also removed the majority of the gloss the previous owner had used to finish.
Step Two: Emerald Green Painting
Open the Emerald Green paint and begin painting the main chair seat, legs, sides and oval back. Be careful not to get the paint on the spindles as these are going to be painted in different colours.
Let this touch dry – which should’t take any longer than 1 – 2 hours. You might find the chair needs another coat dependent on what base you had to go over. If you’re starting from scratch, it’s likely one coat will be enough, which is the beauty of Rust-Oleum paint as it gives potent coverage after just one coat.
Step Three: Masking Tape
this is where things got tricky; i had to add masking tape around the bottom and top of each spindle. This meant that a lot of the masking tape sections were overlapping, but it’s important that the tape doesn’t go up the spindles as the start of each colour will look uneven.
Step four: Paint the Spindles Different Colours
Once you’ve applied your masking tape around the bottom and tops of each spindle, you can now start painting each one. I’ve made each spindle a different colour; you can paint them in which order you like but it’s important that you wait for each one to dry before you remove the masking tape.
You might also find that for the lighter colours like the Dusky Pink and the Mustard you’ll need another coat.
Step five: paint the gaps
Now the spindles are dry, remove the masking tape. You’ll now have some gaps underneath the tape that you’ll need to paint Emerald Green. You should now apply masking tape to where the spindles meet the seat (over the colours) at the bottom and where the spindles meat the oval of the back of the chair at the top. This is so that you can get a neat coverage of the green and don’t accidentally paint over the colours.
Step Six: You’re Done!
Let the touching up of the Emerald Green dry and then remove the masking tape and you’re all done.
Now it’s time to admire you’re handy work.
Have you used Rust-Oleum Chalky Finish paint before? I’d love to see some of your DIYs.