With Glittering Eyes: Renewed Kitchen Chairs

Monday, September 30, 2019

Renewed Kitchen Chairs - Paint and Fabric

On my ongoing efforts to update my kitchen now that the flooring, wall color, and window treatments have been done, I am wanting to change my cabinets. ...But replacing cabinets is definitely not in the budget, so I started looking at paint options. Between looking at specially formulated cabinet paint from Sherwin Williams and Lowes, sprayers, refacing options, and other paints, I discovered on Facebook: chalk paint. Once I landed on Heirloom Traditions Paint, with its promise of no sanding and no wax needed for its self-leveling and primer-included paints, I was intrigued.

Then I realized a huge surprise: the company is based in my city and they had a showroom! I had learned so much about their paint and their recommended application techniques on their Facebook Live streams and on their YouTube videos. They don't have real paint chips, something I hope they will re-think. After seeing some of their customers' cabinets in the Facebook group, I decided that I wanted my cabinets to be painted Cashmere, a true, bright white. But taking on all those kitchen cabinets....with a new paint and all that work! I had to really think hard. It made it easier each time a Facebook friend showed off her new white cabinets, painted by a husband or replaced completely. The ones that started as honey oak (like mine) before their transformation always caught my attention the best! I was ready to try it but decided that I would do some smaller projects first!

I had kitchen chairs that I have owned for 25+ years that were chipped and dingy. I decided that the Cashmere paint would be perfect for those and would give me the experience and confidence I needed before starting kitchen cabinets-- something I had to do correctly and I had to love!

Newly painted on the left next to the chipped and dinged one on the right.

This weekend I started the process and painted my kitchen chairs and reupholstered the seats. The chairs would add to the new, clean feel! They were red when I bought them in my 20s! I used spray paint from K Mart to change them to match a farmhouse style when we moved to the country in my 30s. They slowly became shabby chic on their own as they chipped and aged at this current house.

The first thing I did was remove the seat bottoms.

Next, the secret sauce: using the Deglosser.

Their deglosser is odor free and doesn't have to be cleaned off. I applied it with a green Scotch Brite scrubby and wiped it down with a paper towel to remove the dirt and grime. I kept a paint brush nearby, thinking that might help with tight details, but I never used it for this project.

Then it was a matter of painting. I used their tools: the brush for applying paint and the sponge applicator that they use in their how-to videos for stippling. The paint is the tough part to buy if you are like me and are used to purchasing by the gallon. I am usually heavy-handed with paint, but they were right, I could have painted all of these and more with just a free sample size. (One free sample is available to new customers via their Facebook and website, although when I went to their showroom, they entered my order on their site for me and got me my free sample.) For whatever reason, this paint goes a long way.

The paint covered everything.

In sections, I painted and then stippled with a sponge, hiding all the brush strokes and catching drips. I did keep a damp paper towel for the sponge to set on to keep it moist, but not dripping wet.

It was quick to dry. Super quick. That is one reason why stippling and painting is best done in sections!

Once I finished the four chairs, they were dry enough for any areas that needed an extra coat and dry enough to flip over to get the bottom of the rails. I debated letting them cure for a few days before adding a newly upholstered seat bottoms but I couldn't wait. I did allow them a few drying hours though. Then I gathered my upholstery tools.

I stripped off the old fabric using a staple lifter. When I inherited my dining room chairs, upon redoing those seats, I realized my grandpa never removed the old fabric. As much fun as it was to try to remember previous coverings, that meant that he could never inspect or change the padding. In all those decades, those chairs really needed new padding. These chairs though, I have redone a few times, and the padding has been updated.

I elected not to replace the foam rubber and dacron batting this time. The high density foam rubber I had still had support. I placed the wooden seat bottom and padding on the wrong side of the new upholstery fabric and, starting at the centers, began stapling (with 3/8" staples) toward the corners.

The corners should have no fold or tucks unless using a super thick foam, in which case a perfectly vertical fold on each exact corner is standard.

After screwing the seat bottoms back into place, the chairs are done!

I will say that when I needed to take breaks from painting and stippling, I placed each the sponge and the brush in separate plastic zipper bags to keep the air away from them. Clean up was simple with warm water and dish soap. The brush cleaned up perfectly. The sponge had some areas where the paint had dried but I think it will be fine for many more uses. I kept my stir stick as a paint chip for my house decorating swatchbook.

In reviewing this project and process, I loved the ease of use and finish of this paint. My kitchen chairs look refreshed. This was a great one day project. Once the paint is cured, I will have a better idea of its durability. My next project will be painting the oak cabinets in my first floor powder room. Those cabinets are exactly like the ones in my kitchen so they will be a great sample. Although they won't be painted in the same color, they should give me a good idea of the work involved and give me opportunities to learn a bit more.

Links to places and projects mentioned in this post:

Thank you for checking out this new kind of project for me. If you were looking for my machine embroidery projects, check out my Embroidery Gallery.

For my paper projects, check out my Paper Gallery.

For my soap making posts, check out my Soap Recipe Gallery.