Pam and Thom James from DIY Inspired shared with me their DIY French Rounded Back Chairs Makeover; and it inspired me so much, that I just had to share their project. I met these talented individuals via my DIY Inspired Facebook page and was simply floored at what a fantastic makeover they completed on these chairs – you won’t believe their creativity!
Here’s what she had to say about these chairs that would soon become trash at her church rummage sale:
“My husband is disabled, so I serve as his caretaker. On occasion he can do creative projects with me; so when four French Round-backed chairs from our Church’s Rummage Sale went unsold I asked permission to take them and was granted it.”
After sanding them down we realized the wood would not accept stain; we have experienced this issue before with production made furniture; for smaller parts (like feet of sofas etc), such as feet we paint them or apply faux finishes instead. After much trial-and-error we settled upon creating a caramel finish using glazing techniques in order to match some antique pieces in our dining room and our wool area rug’s hues of caramel.
The colors in my dining room include wheat-gold, brick red and bits of blue and olive; not quite split complementary but it still works because these accent colors are quite small. Additionally, I found a tapestry which almost matches up perfectly with my area rug in terms of design and hue as well as caramel gimp rugs for my decor needs.
Due to our need to restart multiple times before getting the effect we desired and working around my husband’s less than stellar days, this project took over three months to complete.
Pam noted that the pictures do not demonstrate just how awful things were: all nap had worn away from the tapestry and threadbare spots were ready to disintegrate – not to mention they were also filthy.”
How They Did It
The James family began by sanding and applying two coats of primer before painting four Burlap spray coats using 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper between coats. Next they applied three layers of matte poly finish topped off with tinted wax to complete this stunning transformation. Pam returned later with a fine paint brush to paint more depth into each slash or small area using depth paints purchased at Lowes and bought glazing compounds from stores like Home Depot. Finally they applied three matte poly coats before buffing them back onto microfiber cloths using tinted wax.
Check out my article for information on when and how to use primer when working on DIY painting projects or furniture makeovers.
