Our $35 Secondhand Chair Makeover: Choosing Color, Spray Painting, and Upholstery

We rescued a pair of secondhand office chairs for $35 (original find shown in the link) and have been slowly transforming them. They’re still drying as I write this, but we wanted to share the makeover progress and the decisions that got us here.

First, a quick list of the colors we considered for the office chairs:

• emerald green
• turquoise, aqua, or dark teal
• dark gray or light gray
• plum
• navy
• white or light celery
• lime green or grellow (green + yellow)

Here are the chairs in the office before paint and new upholstery (different perspectives to refresh your memory):

We weighed the options based on how each color would interact with nearby elements and the view into the room:

• Teal or aqua felt redundant because bright teal bookcases flank the office doorway.
• Gray matched the walls but would have been too muted.
• Navy was too close to the chairs’ original dark tone and felt heavy.
• White or light celery seemed safe and could skew Palm Beach in this setting.
• Plum would likely read as too dark, like the original finish.

That narrowed us to emerald green or a lively grellow. I was leaning toward emerald for a while, thinking it would relate nicely to the softer grellow used elsewhere, but swatches revealed a problem: most emeralds had cool, non-yellow undertones that clashed with the warmer greens in the stencil and kitchen walls.

The obvious choice became grellow. It would echo the lighter kitchen walls and the stencil while providing a bold, saturated contrast so the chairs read as a distinct accent rather than another neutral. The deciding touch came from a patterned napkin we call “Sue the Napkin.” By matching a strong greeny-yellow from the napkin we landed on Benjamin Moore’s Olive Tree as our swatch.

Because the chairs have woven details that wouldn’t take well to brush paint, we planned to use spray paint. Our local Benjamin Moore store can mix custom spray paint, but timing didn’t work out, and a visit late in the day wasn’t productive. Serendipitously, Michael’s had a Krylon spray paint called “Ivy Leaf” that matched the Olive Tree swatch almost exactly, so we bought two cans. (A follow-up call revealed a custom minimum would have required six cans at a higher price, so the store find saved us time and money.)

Preparation was simple: I removed each seat cushion (held on by four screws), wiped down the frames with a liquid deglosser, and set the chairs on cardboard outside for primer. The existing finish was worn but smooth, so sanding wasn’t necessary.

I applied a few thin, even coats of spray primer from 8–10 inches away, keeping the can moving to avoid drips, and let it dry about 40 minutes. The spray paint can recommended applying the topcoat within an hour or waiting 24 hours; impatiently, I chose to continue immediately and layered several very light coats until the color built up to full coverage. The finish developed gradually—each thin pass added more saturation without creating runs.

Practical tips we relied on:

• Choose quality spray paint with a reliable nozzle; a good trigger spray makes thin, even coats easier.
• Always keep the can in motion; a steady 8–10″ distance and a misting motion prevent drips.
• Multiple thin coats beat one heavy coat every time—aim for a light build-up to full coverage.
• Spray paint contains VOCs, so work outdoors with a mask and follow cure times; when possible let pieces cure at least 24 hours.
• To reduce off-gassing indoors, seal spray-painted pieces with two thin coats of a low-VOC acrylic sealer like Safecoat Acrylacq.

I ended up using three cans total. For upholstery, I had leftover fabric from a dining room curtain project, and once we held the fabric up to the newly grellowed frames it felt like the perfect match—bold but coordinated.

Instead of using the fabric for roman blinds (which might have been too matchy), we reupholstered the seats so the chairs would be a bright, cheerful accent in the office and still coordinate with the dining room. I’ll post the full upholstery details and final photos in a day or two after everything is fully dry and reassembled.

Quick note: we’ll be back later this morning with an extra post at 11am, earlier than our usual 2pm slot—perfect timing so I can spend the afternoon finishing the upholstery. Also, we’ve shared a resource about DIY projects to do with kids on a parenting site if you’re looking for family-friendly craft ideas.