Painted Queen Anne Chairs

I titled this one Back to my same ol' BS because a long time ago I frequently painted furniture. And I know it's so controversial! I get it!  And I totally agree that certain wood furniture, namely Antique furniture, high quality wood furniture, heirloom furniture, etc. should remain untouched. Or at least maintained so it lasts forever.  Certain furniture though, in my opinion is worth giving a makeover. In this case, I found these chairs for $10 a piece at a local online auction house.  I didn't know if they have a maker, in fact I couldn't locate a single name on any of the chairs. So I took that as a "go" for me bringing them a new life. 

As you can see, there was some wear in certain areas and I loathe the existing fabric. I'm just not a primary colors kind of person. The style is Queen Anne but almost with a unique top part that flares. 

And of course, I went to work ordering paint and new fabric.  I was excited to try Anne Sloan's Paris Gray as a base coat and Old White as a top coat with clear wax. I ordered three yards of Waverly Regency fabric from Fabricguru.com. And as much to my surprise when I started to carefully take apart the chairs and take off the existing fabric I found the original label. Statton Furniture, made in PA.  My research suggests these are very nicely made chairs indeed and are considered Heirloom quality to be passed on to future generations. I really started second guessing my need to redo the entire chair.  But I had already ordered my paint and Anne Sloan Paint is not cheap!  Anyway, they are still the same quality chair only now with a French Flare! 

This time around I thoughtfully removed each chair cushion using a flat head screwdriver and pliers and laid each set down in an order so that they could be placed back on the same chair later. Thankfully the batting underneath and black bottom fabric were all in great shape so I just needed new top fabric. The fabric is upholstery grade and it was really helpful to have an electric staple gun to get this job done. I carefully used the old fabric as a stencil and traced the exact size onto my new fabric.  I used fabric sheers to cut out the fabric and then stapled around all the sides making sure my pattern was straight and the corners were tight. 

I used the old black fabric back on bottom and that's pretty much it! Now for the fun part. The painting!

Anne Sloan paint says you don't need to sand or prime or anything, but I am old school so I like to give my surface a good sanding and then a good cleaning with a strong solvent.  Then I clean it to get all the dust off. In this case, I used one thick coat of Paris Gray and let it dry for a few hours. Then I used a lighter coat of Old White. I let that dry overnight.  In the morning I applied a coat of clear wax and let that dry for one day.  Then it was time to lightly sand so that the gray peaked through a bit. In my opinion, if I ever do this again, would be to sand before waxing, but I was following their instructions. Once I was happy with my sanding, I applied another coat of wax. I again let it dry over night.  The final day of this project was reattaching the chair pads with the four screws at the bottom using an electric drill. 

I think it's the season, but I especially love to lighten things up around this time of the year. Who knows, by Fall I may be taking out the black chairs again!  Oh! and with my three yards of fabric, I even had enough left over to make a wide runner for the table. Maybe a little too wide, oh well. 

Someone likes hiding under the table, I wonder if he notices the new chairs! 

 Happy Spring. I better do a garden tour soon as I have so many new plants this year! 

xo

Cathleen