PART 1 – PAINT

In my whole homeowning life, little has brought me more satisfaction than this Coastal French dining chair makeover. From the day we bought this set, I could envision the beauty aching to emerge — luscious, French lines buried under noisy, red-orange upholstery. Now the curvy legs are on full display, and the seat is covered in sumptuous velvet. The neutral color works from countryside to coastline. On top of all that, the chairs have injected new life into the checkerboard table by allowing the wood’s warmth to anchor the room, instead of overwhelm it.

The Inspiration

I knew I wanted washed or weathered wood with velvet. Part rustic, part fancy — they’d have balance. These were the inspo photos:

Picking a paint color

I’m a fan of chalk paint for the simple reason it requires no sanding or stripping of the original finish. With these chairs, that would have been a nightmare. So many grooves, so little time! The only thing I had to do was wipe them down to get the dust off.

That said, I had several chalk paint projects under my belt before starting this major one, and good thing. Once finished, these chairs would be where guests could see them (and ideally sit on them!) … plus, I’d have to look at them every day. I needed to nail it.

I did not.

At least, at first.

I picked a color from Annie Sloan’s line of chalk paints — not her fault! All the colors are gorgeous. Blessedly, there are only a couple dozen to choose from, too. I decided to go with a familiar color, the one I’d used on our primary bedroom suit — French Linen.

It was very pretty, and the next step was to wax it (this seals the chalk paint). Should I do clear wax? Dark wax? A driftwood finish (mix white paint into clear wax – more on that method here)…?

The plain clear wax one and the dark wax one were both fine. But I’m not one to keep it simple. The one I did with the dark wax first coat and driftwood finish (above right) looked so much like my inspiration pics. It *could* have worked. But it wasn’t right for this space. If you saw my post on our dining room’s blue trim/cream wall paint, you know the bigger picture in my mind was based on this photo:

This room oozes warmth. French Linen just wasn’t going to do that for me here. Two chairs in, I had to face the fact I was starting over.

{HANGS HEAD}

I went back to the Annie Sloan distributor to get a look at another color called Country Grey. I had reservations because reviewers say it has green undertones. Seeing samples in the shop, though, I knew it was the khaki/straw tone I was jonesing for:

{PICKS UP PAINTBRUSH.}

I LOVED it. The only question now would be whether to keep it plain and cover it in clear wax…

…or go for the dramatic and seal it with dark wax?

Wax Accents

Leave it to me to have it BOTH ways. I decided to use the dark wax as an accent in the deepest grooves — along the seat and on the back. A debate raged within me about how heavy to go along the leg’s curves. In the end, I opted for a lighter application.

I laid the dark wax into the grooves with the edge of a plastic knife and a bunch of t-shirt rags.

I was elated with how the frames ended up. Now it was time to turn my attention to the upholstery .. using something called performance velvets.