You, my friends, are in for SUCH a treat today! Amy and Vicki are just about the sweetest gals I know and I am so honored and excited to have them sharing this beautiful project here today! Y’all know how much I adore chalk paint and now they’ve got me itching to try out some dark wax on my next project too!!!
Hi everyone! My name is Amy and I blog at Canary Street Crafts along with my mom, Vicki. Kristi is one of our favorite blogging friends, and we’re so excited to be guest posting at Making it in the Mountains today!
Vicki and I recently wrote about an Annie Sloan chalk paint class we took, and we wanted to share our first furniture project with you.
We wanted to start with something small, and decided on this chair with gorgeous flower detail.
It had already been painted white, but it had a brown stain over the white paint that just made it look dirty. Plus the existing paint was sloppy with lots of drip marks. We decided we wanted to repaint it a cleaner white and change up the fabric.
We started by sanding down the old paint drips and any rough spots to prep the surface. For the paint, we chose Annie Sloan “Old White”. We painted 2 coats, drying and lightly sanding between coats. We then went over the entire piece with clear wax, and highlighted the flower detail with a bit of dark wax.
A couple things I’ve noticed after painting this chair (and a few more projects we’ll be sharing soon). 1. I like to get my brush damp before painting with chalk paint. I usually run my hand under water then rub the bristles until they’re just slightly damp. 2. I almost always mix a smidge of water into the paint. I’ve never measured, but I pour about a cup of paint into a separate container and add about a teaspoon or two of water. Annie Sloan chalk paint is made to be a bit thick and show brush marks, and I just prefer a smoother finish. Adding a little water helps to achieve that.
We found the fabric at Hobby Lobby. We removed the old fabric, added new padding to the seat, then simply stapled the new fabric to the back of the seat, pulling it tight as we went. We also cut and stapled a piece of batting to cover the entire bottom of the seat.
This chalk paint upcycled chair will be one of the first items for sale in our new retail space. We’ve never sold any of our projects before, and we’re excited to see where this new venture takes us. (By the way, when I say “retail space”, I’m referring to a little booth we’re renting in an antique mall. It’s basically a 3-sided plywood cubicle with a concrete floor. But doesn’t retail space sound a million times more sophisticated than plywood cubicle?)
We would love for you to follow along with us as we learn more about furniture upcycling. We’ll be sharing everything we learn as we go, in addition to our regular DIY projects and crafts. You can connect with us on social media here: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can also sign up on our website to receive our projects by email if you like.
If you’re interested in reading our Annie Sloan chalk paint tips, you can find that here.
A huge thank you to Kristi for sharing her space with us and letting us hang out with all of you today! We hope you have a fantastic weekend!
I love the chair, ladies! The fabric you chose suits it perfectly!! And you are too funny about your “retail space”! Ant wait to see what else you do! Love following all of you ladies…. Amy, Vicki and Kristi! Have a great weekend! xo
Thanks so much, Kendra! We also frequently refer to it as our “shop”. We’re fancy like that :). Love following you too, have a great weekend!
Isn’t it SO pretty?! Wish I could be shopping that retail space! Have a fab weekend Kendra!
Amy, I love this so much! It’s utterly adorable!
Thank you, Rebekah! You’re the sweetest!
Those gals did SUCH an amazing job and have me just dying to try some dark wax now!!!
Amy and Vicki…it’s hard to believe that this is the first piece of furniture that y’all have painted. The chair is now so fresh and so pretty! Well done! And congrats on your new retail space!!
Thank you! We’re seriously addicted now! We have 3 pieces we’re in the process of painting and several more waiting for paint. We’ve been hitting thrift shops looking for more pieces, and we may have shamelessly picked up a fab coffee table out of someone’s trash the other day :).
The chair is adorable. The wood accents pop with the paint. And thank you for the painting tips!
Peggy, thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked the painting tips!
This is just gorgeous! I love every part of it! I really need to get on the chalk paint bandwagon because everything I’ve seen it painted on turns out great. I really wish I lived closer to you ladies because I would be snatching up so many of your projects.
Wow… I would like to try this for my old chair. But, I need to buy Annie Sloan Chalk Paint first and practice this on the sample for a while and then start to paint my old chair. I’ve pinned yours 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing, Amy.
This turned out so well! What an adorable little chair. I haven’t tried Annie Sloan yet, only Country Chiic. And I love using it… But I’d be curious to try the difference:-)
I agree, those gals did SUCH an amazing job with this makeover Krista!
You guys did a great job! Everyone makes reupholstering look so easy, Haha, I want to try my hand at it. I love the fabric you choose too.
How helpful with the tip about adding water! I’ve never used chalk paint but I think it’s important to know these things first!
The detail of the chair is amazing, and I love the fabric choice for the seat cushion. Vickie and Amy did a wonderful job!
True. The design of these cushion is timeless and I bet that these chairs will still look great in 20 years.
OMGoodness! Not only did I redo a chair exactly like this one in off white chalk paint at my house, but used the very same fabric for the seat!
Really?! How neat! Amy did an amazing job on this chair and I’m thrilled that you love it too Deana!
Question: Can I use thinned out chalk paint to “tint” the fabric on a chair.?I want the pattern on the fabric to show. The background of the fabric is too light. I’d like a ” tea stained” effect. Can’t find anything on tea staining upholstery. So can I use thinned out, watered down chalk paint?
You know Larry, I’m not actually sure. I would take it for a test run on a different fabric to check it out first. In theory it makes sense, it would be like “white-washing” the fabric. I would also look into dyeing it too. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
I love the chair, ladies! The fabric you chose suits it perfectly!! And you are too funny about your “retail space”! Ant wait to see what else you do! Love following all of you ladies…. Amy, Vicki and Kristi! Have a great weekend! xo