Paint A Chair, step by step

Our $35 secondhand chairs – found here – are not quite done yet (picture me tapping my foot as I not-so-patiently wait for the paint to dry) but we thought we’d share our makeover progress in the interest of real-time lively. First a swift rundown of all the colors that John & I talked about for the office chairs at one point or another:

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

Oh and here they are in the office before paint and new upholstery (from a few distinct POVS), simply to refresh your memory:

Here is where our brains went when we continued to debate each of those color options over the last month or so:

• when you look into the office from the dining room there are two bright teal bookcases on each side of the doorway, so we thought turquoise or aqua or dark teal would be too “everything’s-teal” from that view
• after going with gray on the walls, we abandoned the light or dark gray idea for the chairs since it felt a little too blah
• navy was close to the color that was already on the chairs and it felt too dark for us
• we worried that white or light celery might be a bit too safe (and could skew a little too palm beach) so we chose to go for something bolder and more cheerful
• we worried plum would be simply as dark as the original navy-ish color that was already on the chairs

So then we were left with emerald green and lime green or grellow. And I am not gonna lie- I was rooting for emerald green for a while. I thought it would be pleasant and not-too-matchy when it came to the light grellow in the stencil and on the adjoining kitchen walls. But we held up ten million emerald swatches and stepped back and they all looked sort of… wrong. That is the only way to describe it. The not-yellow undertones simply seemed to clash with the adjoining kitchen and even the pop of color in the stencil since they were such warm greens and the emerald was so cool-ish and not-golden.

And the winner is…. grellow! Who is surprised? No one. Ok then. We figured why fight it if a especially saturated & bold grellow would fit right in and reference the lighter kitchen walls and the soft grellow in the stencil while playing well with the other nearby elements (like the indigo light fixture, the teal globe on the file cabinet, the dark teal bookcases in the dining room, and the green runner & curtains in the dining room). The key was certainly hunting down something distinctly distinct (& bolder!) than the soft color on the kitchen walls and in the stencil so it did not feel bland and too monochromatic. Enter Sue the Napkin, stage right:

 

Since Sue is fairly much responsible for a ton of the color decisions that we make around here, we figured she could not do us wrong in the “what green should we go with?” department. So we plucked a deep greeny-yellow right out of the napkin by holding up swatches until we landed on one that looked the most like it: Benjamin Moore’s Olive Tree. Then we taped that swatch to the chair, stepped back, and got heart eyes. It was magical. Everything was getting along swimmingly. Done deal.

But we needed to get spray paint in that color (since all the weaving in the chair certainly would not be easily coated with a paint brush) so the plan was to go to our local Benjamin Moore store to get them to make some custom spray paint mixed in that color (they can in fact do that, well some of them can – simply call to see if yours is one of them). Late last week I in fact called to make sure ours still did it (they did) which is when I learned that it was too late in the day for them to make any (they closed at 6 and it was around 4 when I was calling). Bummer.

I planned to simply wait to head over there the next morning but lo and behold while we were at Michael’s later that night we came across the spray paint aisle there, and what did we find? Krylon spray paint in “Ivy Leaf” which was – I kid you not – nearly identical to the Benjamin Moore swatch of Olive Tree that I had tucked into my purse. So we picked up two cans of it at $5.99 a pop. Hooray! Update: I simply called Benjamin Moore back to see how much custom spray paint would have run me and they told me I would need to get a minimum of six cans of spray paint at $7-10 each! So glad Michael’s accidentally came through for us.

After we got home with my beloved spray paint I simply took out the seat cushion on each chair (it was held in from the underside by four screws).

Then I wiped everything down with some liquid deglosser (we like Next Liquid Deglosser by Crown since it is non-flammable, biodegradable, and low-VOC) and set them outside on cardboard for some spray primer. If the chipped paint had been rough and bumpy I certainly would have sanded to smooth things out, but the paint was worn down in such an oddly smooth way, there was not anything for me to sand. Then it was primer time.

I applied a few thin and even coats (picture me misting it from 8-10 inches away, consistently keeping my arm moving to avoid drips) and let that dry for about 40 minutes.

Then I thought to read the can, which informed me that the topcoat should be applied within an hour or not until 24 hours later. So I impatiently chose that I did not want to wait. I swiftly misted both chairs with about four suuuuper thin and even spray paint coats until they were glad and grellow. I snapped some photos of each thin coat so you could see how they are quite light (there is nearly zero coverage at first) and they build up to full coverage.

Here are a few more of my go-to spray painting pointers:

• Skip the bad/low-cost/terrible $2 stuff in favor of the quality $6-7 options (I like Rustoleum’s trigger spray nozzle because it goes on thin and even – and does not get all over your fingers).
• Consistently keep the can moving. Seriously. If you are a-sprayin’ your arm better be a-swayin’.
• It is best to keep the nozzle about 8-10″ away from whatever it is that you are spray painting.
• You truly want a mist, not a heavy wet coating.
• Three thin and even coats are better than one thick and drippy one.
• Spray paint has yet to go no-VOC, so apply it outside with a mask, and let it fully cure as long as the can recommends outside whenever you can (typically 24 hours, we try to double that simply to be even safer).
• You can “seal” any spray paint (to limit off-gassing once you bring it inside) by applying two thin coats of Safecoat Acrylacq, which is low-VOC and non-toxic.

Voila, I was left with this chipper guy:

Make that two of them. Simply chillin’ in the yard.

Oh but it took me three cans of spray paint total, so I had to go back for one more. As for the seat fabric, I had some leftover yardage from my little dining room curtain project.

And after holding up the fabric to the freshly grellowed chairs we were so glad. All systems are go. They look strong together.

Originally I intended to use that extra fabric to make roman blinds for the office since that room is so open to the dining room thanks to the giant double doorway that is flanked by the built-ins. But I got to thinking that it might be too matchy-matchy to use it on the windows and John and I kept dreaming more and more about bright grellow chairs, so it was the ideal compromise. This afternoon’s project is to reupholster the seats. I will share all those details along with after pics in a day or two (as soon as they are dry sufficient to get jammed back together for photos).

Oh and do not go quite far this morning. We will in fact be back in a few hours with a rare 11am post instead of our regular 2pm jam. Which is pleasant because it frees up my afternoon for reupholstering. Everyone wins.

Psst- We are over on BabyCenter sharing an remarkable resource for projects that you can Hands-on with your children. There are so many lively ideas to add to our “someday to-do list” with Clara.