Monday, July 2, 2012

Dining Room Chairs Repainted! Weekend Project

Remember this post about the chairs that needed some TLC (terrific-licious-carefromerin)? ...  That was dumb. Whatevs.

Chairs BEFORE
The dark chairs clearly didn't work with the new table, and the solution was obvious. They needed a paint job. We needed to "get our paint on". We needed to work. it. out. with our spray paint, ya'll. And with our place on the market to sell, it needed to be done real quick-like.

About the chairs, you guys. I liked the lines of the chairs (Roger Chairs from Ikea) which is one of the reasons I focused so hard on them. I knew these would look great painted any color. So I stalked them on Craigslist until I found them for $75. Hollah! Even if we did have to rent a car and drive a couple of hours to get them, it was a step in the right direction. And I knew they could work with various styles, should my tastes change down the road.

I've painted a few pieces of furniture (like this one and this one) and I love spray-paint, but I've never painted furniture with it before, only accessories. This is mostly because during the winter,  I can't use spray-paint outdoors (it won't cure properly if it's too cold outside). As you know, because we live in a condo we lack a climate-controlled option indoors, like a garage.

The second reason has to do with the color limitations. Typically the colors I'm wild about aren't available in ready-made, spray paint form.  But I remembered Centsational Girl's favorite white and settled on Rustoleum's Heirloom White for this project. I'm happy with the color! Especially considering if I had chosen another color and hand-painted this project, I would have spent a LOT more time on it.

First, for an overview of the process.  Here's a quick how-to:
Step 1: Clean your furniture well. Wipe it down to remove any obvious dirt.
Note: I didn't sand before priming. Many people do, some say it isn't necessary. The chairs have held up really well so far.
Step 2: Spray 2-3 thin coats of spray primer (I used Kilz spray-primer)
Step 3A:: Use a fine sandpaper to lightly sand in between coats. How do you know when you're done? I just rub over it with my hand to make sure the surface feels nice and smooth.
Step 3B: After you sand, wipe off the dust (I used a microfiber dust cloth)
Step 4: Spray about 2-3 thin coats of spray paint
Step 5 (for the jobs you want to last awhile: Seal with a protective finish like MinWax Polycrylic. - I omitted this step because this was a quick, temporary fix.

Prepping the project
You obviously need to spread out drop cloths to protect the surrounding area.  Since it was really windy outside, I used some 2x4's that I found behind our condo to keep the drop cloths from popping up and messing up the finish of the paint.
Ikea Roger Chairs - Before Painting

Priming 
Here's what it looked like after two coats of Kilz spray-primer, with light sanding in between for smoothe finish.  I could have made these coats even thinner.



And after a couple coats of spray paint... 

It's looking much better.

By the way, I've been meaning to take that lamp on the left down for weeks. After seeing this pic I FINALLY AND IMMEDIATELY took it down to our condo's basement. 


Again, I typically would have finished this project with a protective coating. But this is a quick fix, to get our place sold and remove this eye-sore for a temporary period.

Do tell, Dwellers! Any questions about painting furniture? Have you tried spray-painting recently? What do you think? How do you think it compares to painting it the old-fashioned way? Any temporary or "quick fix" projects you've approached recently?

15 comments:

  1. DEFINITELY a big improvement over the dark ones! But honestly, I can't focus on those chairs... all I can see is the beautiful buffet and GORGEOUS wingbacks behind them! I am still so in love with those pieces (from previous blogs)! When we buy a house I am totally bringing you over to help me decorate/style everything! :)

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  2. You are too sweet!

    I agree completely! The whole idea was to make them sort of disappear, so mission accomplished!

    Erin

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  3. Good post. Doing a quick fix seems a breeze with the right tool and knowledge. Thanks for posting.

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  4. Great job!! After remodeling chairs are looking very nice.Thanks for sharing.

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