COLOURFULWORLD

Wednesday 5 July 2017

From drab to fab - dining room chairs makeover

And here is the result!

                              Before                                                  After

Pinterest is full of this type of makeover and I was inspired by some of the beautiful pictures.

In the States most people use Annie Sloan chalk paint, but I would have to travel a bit out of my way to get that brand, so decided to go to my local Hardware (Bunnings) and they had two brands of chalk paint, which were also slightly cheaper, even though they are a lot more expensive than normal paint. 
I used Rust-Oleum Chalk paint in Linen white and a Matt clear varnish. I had bought a small roller, but because of the small narrow areas to paint I found it easier to just use a brush. I bought a good brush that didn't shed hairs, or left marks, and that was a good investment.





First I removed the screws that were holding the chair seats to the frame, took the chairs into the garden and started painting two chairs at a time. Drying time was about 30 min, and as soon as they dried I went over them once more, until they all had four coats. A few days later I painted two coats of the clear varnish.


I had wanted to cover the seats in a brighter fabric in turquoise tones (I'm a turquoise fan) and managed to find something I liked at Spotlight. I stapled the fabric under each seat and done!











The two extra chairs that belong to the dining room set were also painted.
They usually sit next to a small square table at one end of the living room (the table was also bought at an op-shop last year)
I also bought a lovely turquoise velvet at Spotlight and covered both chairs. They can always be used in the dining room if we need extra seating as the fabric colour matches.

To complete the setting a bunch of fake flowers bought at Ikea were put in the silver ice-bucket. Can you believe it was a wedding present, and has been moving around with us for almost 37 years!!
The pewter candle holders were a going-away present from my arts group when we moved from Portugal to Australia in 2007.

The two glass ornaments on the marble top table were also bought at an op-shop recently, the white jar cost $5 and the blue container cost $3.   The table frame was part of an old sewing machine that we bought at a flea market in Germany, when we lived there almost 30 years ago. It used to have a wooden top but in Portugal I had the marble top made for it. The frame was painted in black then, but of course turquoise is the way to go!


And here it is again - from brown and dull to a much brighter and semi-modern dining room.
I'm happy with it and hopefully this dining room set will last a few more years.

My husband who had his reservations about this  project actually said it looked so much better and even suggested I paint the table legs.

And what do you think of the new look?

BEFORE
AFTER

37 comments:

  1. Great work. I like the chairs. Nevertheless, I don't think they work with the table anymore. The table itself looks impressive but I think you are going to have to go the whole hog and do something with the table too.

    PS I might like a nice dark diamond shape within the diamond on the seat backs of the spare chairs.

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    1. Thanks Andrew. I agree that the table needs the legs painted, just the table top will stay as wood. Actually when I was painting those 2 chairs I thought that the brown diamond shape would look well.

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  2. Although I'm never fond of painting real wood, this was quite a nice update. I think the white goes well with the turquoise, another color I really enjoy. The room looks much lighter and more springlike now, too. Since it's winter there, it might be just the look you want during this time of year. It is FAB.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth, it's a lighter look for winter indeed.

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  3. Nice!

    Love the seat covers in photo number 6.

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  4. Wow, that´s a great job done, Sami! I like turquoise lots, too, and, my! Your furniture is from all over the world, impressive.
    Hmmm. On one hand white legs for the table would fit good to the chairs, but only to those chairs. All the wood in white... too much white or just right?

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    1. Thanks Iris. No, I don't want to put everything white, table top would stay woodi know I have pieces from all over.

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    2. If we left to another country I´d had a hard time leaving some things behind, too!

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    3. We were lucky that the companies J worked for always paid for the transport, reason why the stuff always follows us, otherwise we would probably just keep personal things and buy new furniture every time we moved.

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  5. Gostei mesmo muito. A sala de jantar ficou com mais luz, mais leve e relaxante. Acho que fazia qualquer coisa à mesa também. E gostei imenso das cadeiras extra. E aquela mesa de apoio está linda! Parabéns! :-)

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    1. Obrigada Sandra. Esta decidido, as pinturas vao continuar!

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  6. Amazing how handy you are. I don't have that energy anymore but I have painted mantbthings here when I was younger.well done, you could publish in a magazine!

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    1. Thanks you Marianne. I have to make the best of the energy I have, I think in a few years time I will rather relax than paint, who knows?

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  7. It looks great and much more bright and cosy! The fabric on the chairs is beautiful. I was also quite impressed with the ice bucket for having survived so many moves and years. Great job!

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    1. Thanks Sara. It was lovely at first sight with the fabric. We have a lot of things that have accompanied us all over the world.

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  8. I believe it is the new trend. Chairs that do not match the table.

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    1. It's true Catarina, so much less formal than years ago when everything had to match.

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  9. Gos5o muito de mobiliario branco dá uma leveza ao espaço
    Ki# :=)

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    1. Obrigada Gi, realmente fica mais airosa a mobília.

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  10. Quando há imaginação e talento conseguem-se estes efeitos.
    Bjs

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  11. Looks fabulous, so much more fresh and modern.. I'm a huge fan of white! I haven't seen that make of paint before Sami, not in Bunnings anyway ☺ you really are good at refurbishing!

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    1. Thanks Grace. At first I didn't know they had it, as I had looked a couple of months ago and didn't find any. This time I actually asked someone in the paint dept and they led me to it, so it could be a recent addition.

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  12. P.s. Sami the Lodge in 140 ends on the 8th so you had better get in there today or Saturday. If you see a seat in there grab it because you can order your coffee by SMS from

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  13. ...East Village! Pressed too soon 😀😀

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  14. I like the fresh, updated look! I have been contemplating painting my kitchen chairs black while keeping the table wood. I've been apprehensive about this, but you've given me courage! Everything all the same brown is boring! I'm also impressed at how beautifully you covered your chairs. I've done this in the past - piping, too! - and found it really quite easy to do - with a heavy duty staple gun.

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    1. Thanks J, only now seen your comment. Very brave doing piping too.

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  15. What an amazing job you did, it's just beautiful! So fresh and clean!

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  16. All the chairs look fabulous. I agree with your husband about painting the table legs.

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