Old Wooden Chair Redo April 8, 2011

I recently got to refinish an old wooden chair (something I’ve wanted to do for a while). Our neighbors had 2 old wooden chairs on their curb ready for the dump, but I asked if I could take them instead. Of course they agreed. The other one I haven’t touched yet, but I did get to redo one of them.

Here’s the chair in it’s moldy, worn, ugly state:

I went out and bought some 100 grit sand paper, two 2″ angled brushes, and a can of interior/exterior primer. I’ve had this small can of Glidden paint which has been itching to see it’s debut for a while, and it’s day is finally here!  After sanding it (which isn’t hard, but took me some time) and 1 coat of primer, I let it dry for over an hour. Then I put on 2 coats of Spring Leaf by Glidden. I used an oil based primer and latex interior paint.  Since the paint I used is really meant for walls and interiors, I plan on putting a coat of Polyurethane to protect it since it’s sitting outside. I just have to wait until the end of the month for funds.

So here is the Ugly Duckling turned Swan Princess (in chair world):

The chair is settled right next to the front door. In fact I’m actually sitting in it writing this post! It’s such a fun fresh spring color and looks great.

I did learn a few things from this paint job to take onto the next:

• Don’t skimp on sanding. I was eager to get going with the project and paint (you know the fun parts ), but I should have taken a little more time and sanded out a few other areas.
• Not to worry about coats of paint being too thin. Better to have multiple coats than some clumpy or goopy spots.
• Try hard not to go over anything immediately after painting it, because it does get sticky/tacky as it drys which makes your paint job look tacky.

So there’s ugly chair turned better than it was. Not perfect, but a fun project none the less!

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