Monday, August 16, 2010

Tall Chairs

The gift has been given so I can now show you all the chairs I re-finished.  I'm so excited about how they turned out!

I went to Value Village for a cheap sheet I could use as a painting drop cloth, that was it.  I wandered over to the furniture (of course) and came upon two tall bar chairs.  They were $10 each and in great shape, I happened to have a sister-in-law with a new house, a bar in the kitchen and a birthday coming up.  It was too perfect so I grabbed them both and barely squeezed them into my car.

So pretty hey?


Now for the details.
They started out like this, they look fine as is but nothing special.

And then I got to work sanding.  I can freely admit that I got a little carried away and they didn't need to be sanded quite this well.  Isn't that a lovely sheet they're sitting on?  That's the item I went to pick up in the first place.


Once sanded I wiped them down really well with first a dry cloth and then a damp one.  I then primed them with a paint brush and primed again.  Many times I wished I was using a spray primer but they're just too expensive.  Sadly, these days I have far more time than money.


I sanded with really fine sand paper here to get rid of any imperfections and then I spray painted them a matte black.  I used 3 cans of spray paint, it always seems to take more than you expect.


Classy hey?  I could have put on a clear coat and called them finished but I had stencil plans.

I found a picture I liked online and used PowerPoint to stretch it to the size I wanted.  Then I printed it off.  You can see the picture is all pixelized because I blew it up much bigger than the original.  I knew the pixels wouldn't matter though.

I picked up a really cheap folder at the Dollar Store making sure it was see through.  I taped my design to the underside of the folder

And then using an exacto knife I carefully cut out all the black parts (except the one circle, I didn't want it).  I lengthened the stem just a bit as well.


I then used spray adhesive, following the directions for a temporary bond.  I stuck my stencil to the chair (not quite fast enough as you'll see later down).  The green painters tape is protecting the side of the chair so I didn't get paint on it.
You can see my stencil supplies here

Cheap Dollar Store white acrylic paint, a plastic "bowl" (it's really part of a plastic package that one of Catie's toys came in), newspaper to blot excess paint and a make up sponge.  I made a special trip to two different stores looking for a real stencil brush but then realized spending $10 was ridiculous when I have a ton of make-up sponges hanging around.  It worked like a charm.

If you've never stenciled before here's my real quick guide... pour some paint in your container and dip your sponge in gently so you just cover the entire surface.  Then take your sponge and blot off just about all of your paint, too much causes seepage under your stencil.  Then using gentle up and down movements press your paint onto the stencil.  I did two coats and then took off the stencil when the paint was still wet.  Because of the width of my stencil and the flimsyness of it this was absolutely a two person job.  My husband was awesome at helping me put on and take off the stenil, I would have had a really hard time doing it on my own.

I actually had quite a bit of paint seep underneath the stencil, I suspect my plastic folder wasn't super effective, either that or I used too much paint.  Rather than sand off the design, repainting it black and starting again I used Q-tips to carefully go around the entire stencil cleaning up my mess.  If you look real close you can tell my lines aren't very crisp but otherwise it just looks amazing.  I also found that my stencil pulled off my black paint in a few very small places.  I had painted them earlier that morning so I'm sure they hadn't had time to properly harden.  I grabbed a plastic, disposable cup and my spray paint can and went out side where I sprayed just enough paint into my cup to make a little puddle.  Then I quickly came back inside, dipped a Q-tip in the puddle and covered up the exposed primer where the black had pulled off.  Once it dried you couldn't even see where the spots where.

So then I washed the stencil (3 Times!  That adhesive is strong), flipped it over and did the other chair the same way (my second chair seeped even worse).  Having a second stencil would have helped because the little parts really didn't stick great the second time but that would have meant I had to cut out another one.  I'm wondering if a thinner, less stiff plastic would have helped too.

To finish them up I took both chairs outside and covered them in two coats of spray Varathane, 3 in the really heavyily used areas.


I'm so pleased with the look and Renee loved them!




Thanks so much for featuring my chairs!


HOG



 
Wallet-Friendly Wednesday






40 comments:

Lenore @ Lather. Write. Repeat. said...

I love what you did to the chairs! The detailing really makes them special. Nice job!

XO
Lenore

HILLARY said...

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! I really like the make over!

Mitz said...

I love this, I absolutely love it!! Great work.

Ann @ makethebestofthings said...

These look wonderful! Thanks for all the little tips in your post, helps me when I end up doing a project like this. I like the white on black alot!

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

They would have been nice in just plain black, but you really added a cool touch with the pretty stencil. Love this new look. :) Visiting from The CSI Project! :)

Unknown said...

Love it!!! So talented!

Kristen said...

I love the finished result. And the stencil you made? Gorgeous!!!

Restorative Living said...

This is absolutely stunning! I LOVE it!

Terrell said...

What a fantastic transformation!! Great job! They look amazing! I'm happy to be your newest follower and I'd love to have you stop by Frou Frou Decor..I love new friends. I'd also like to invite you to link up to my weekly Fabulous Friday Finds party each Friday!! Hope to see you there!
Hugs,
~Terrell @ FFD~

Kim -today's creative blog said...

I wish you were my SIL! Great job!

Cathy said...

Great job, I love the inventiveness for a stencil!

Ann Marie @ Twice Lovely said...

I love that!! The stencil you made is adorable!!

Unknown said...

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your project at Anything Related! ~Bridgette

devin said...

those chairs are spectacular! great job!

Robin Ange said...

Matte Black is my new obsession! Love these chairs. Love this idea! You have to link this to my Upcycled Awesome Linky party at http://tinyurl.com/Upcycled10

Amanda @ Healthy House on the Block said...

Laura, this is AWESOME! I have some barstools just like this -- and I would LOVE to make them look like yours! You did a wonderful job!!

Lisa said...

Very pretty! I can't believe you had the patience to go through 3 cans of spray paint! It's worth it in the end though...looks great!

Tonia said...

Fantastic job. I really love what you did with these chairs. You've inspired me to find some new barstools just for this project.

Deborah@Green Willow Pond said...

Really pretty. I just painted a table black for my daughter to take to college. I'd love to add a detail like this to it. I'll have to see if I have time.

Brittany Lewis said...

These look SO great!! I would love to get a gift like this.

Check out my blog & follow please.

brittany-theyoungjunker.blogspot.com

Happy Mom's Daily said...

Gorgeous! I loved reading about all the little tricks you used, it's so much similar to the way I do my projects =)

Room to Inspire said...

They turned out really nice - I love the black and white. The stencil was a perfect addition. Thanks for linking up to Be Inspired today!

Chelsea

Cassie Bustamante said...

those turned out beautifully! they went from plain jane to sexy jane!

Beth O'Donovan said...

Great job! Now I'm inspired to find stools for my kitchen and do something similar - way to go!

Rockie said...

These look great. Maybe you could try clear contact paper next time. Only down side is you have to cut out more stencils instead of just the one. But still....they turned out very pretty. Thanks for posting.

www.rockiescrafts.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Pretty!!!

You should join my "Restyle Your World" linky party this Monday...
http://1bellastager.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/restyle-your-world-a-linky-party/

Blessings,
Jen

Polly said...

I read every word of your tutorial. Thanks for sharing all of the details. I know now to not use a plastic folder for a stencil :)
Your hard work paid off. Well done.

Maureen F. said...

Great stencil - the chairs turned out beautiful !!

Christina said...

Found you on Remodelaholic - and I LOVE your chairs! Fantastic! And it's good to know I'm not the only one who has issues with stencils...that exact thing happened to me! Great work :)

Heather Bredimus said...

Hi! I found your site off of Today’s Creative Blog! I love your craft! You are so talented! I just signed up to be your newest follower! Woo hoo! I hope you stop by my new blog. I just started it 2 months ago and would love new friends! Please come see me at http://www.modernfamilymagazine.com

-Heather-

Bonnie @ House of Grace said...

Great job! I am going to feature you!
Bonnie :)

Remodelaholic said...

We love this party link and I wanted to let you know that we are planning on featuring it. We hope that you get a bunch of new visitors.

www.remodelaholic.com

Kara Henry said...

WOW. Those turned out just gorgeous! I'm in love.

Thanks for linking up at Craftastical!

B said...

I would love to get those as a gift! Wow, great job! I love the stencil you made!

Okie Chic said...

Love what you did. Great job and the stencil is adorable.

AUDRA said...

AWWWWHHH!! I LOVE this!!!

AUDRA said...

I featured this!
http://simpsonizedcraftsandthensome.blogspot.com/2010/09/happy-monday-i-love-starting-new-weeks.html

Unknown said...

I love those chairs, what a wonderful idea!

THAIS CAMPOS said...

Hi my name is Thais I love that stuff up and reform. congratulations it beautiful .. I love these things always i will go here looking at this news ... kisses

Kelly Nicole said...

Your blog is amazing! I love all of your projects! I wish my blog was this awesome!