Hello again from The French Hen's Nest
My French Dining Chairs
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| Pretty chair detail |
I want to show you my French dining room chairs. The chairs are French style with beautiful cabriolet legs, and the back is woven cane. I spotted these at a thrift store, the structure of the chairs really appealed to me, they are sturdy, and had no visible defects.
They were a pecan color, and as usual the seats were in really bad shape, but that is never a reason to pass up pretty chairs. I was thinking I could refinish them and maybe sell them.
They were a pecan color, and as usual the seats were in really bad shape, but that is never a reason to pass up pretty chairs. I was thinking I could refinish them and maybe sell them.
But I went home empty handed, called my sister Linda, sent her a picture of them and asked what she thought. She encouraged me (strongly) to go back and get them. Well, the next day I went back, thinking they would probably be gone, but they were still there, and they were only asking seven dollars for each. A deal I couldn’t pass up. One of my French decorating books shows a couple of chairs painted with chalk paint, and I really liked the look, so I decided I would give it a go. I searched for an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint retailer, (great chalk paint, needs no priming) and had to drive a bit to buy it. I got white, it’s really white. Don’t know if you have ever used it before, but it is a bit thick, and needs to be thinned with a little water as you go along. It took me a few days to finish painting the chairs. I chose not to wax them, because I really like the chalky look.
Next step, need to choose padding for the seats, and a French style material to reupholster the seats.
A tip on the padding, I bought a one inch twin size bed foam, and a two inch thick batting. Three inches is a little much, needed two inch padding, so I pulled the batting apart, it tears apart easily into one inch thick pieces. I probably saved about thirty dollars doing this. I drew the seat outline on both, and cut them out.
Now I’m ready to reupholster. Stopped by GW a few days later, and found two yards of toile in blue and white for about $4.00. Unbelievable find! Nothing says French like toile. It was just what I was looking for. After cutting pieces to fit each chair, I stapled the toile onto the seats, screwed the seats to the chairs and project was finished.
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| Painted and reupholstered chair! |
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| Pretty chair detail |
Only one problem, I liked the chairs so much, that I gave my old ones away and kept these for me!
Now at my dining table- so beautiful!
This was very easy to do, if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer. Cost: 4 Chairs-$28, 1/4 can Annie Sloan chalk paint about $10, fabric for seats $4, Padding for seats $20. Total for 4 chairs, $62.00!
Happy Decorating, till next time………..Jeannie
I'm partying at
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday @ {PRIMP}
100 Ideas Under $100 @ Beyond the Picket Fence
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed
I'm partying at
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday @ {PRIMP}
100 Ideas Under $100 @ Beyond the Picket Fence
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed
I love your chairs. theya re really beautiful. I am going to check into chalk painting. I have not heard of this technique. You have inspired me to go out and find chairs and try it.
ReplyDeleteI love those kind of chairs, they clean up so nicely. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your nice comments! Now I will head on over to Between Yellow and Blue and check out your blog!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Jeannie used Annie Sloan chalk paint. I have experimented with homemade chalk paint and it turned out great. I am going to try ASCP soon and compare. Thanks for your nice comments. Let us know if you paint some furniture how you like the chalk paint. Linda (the other Hen)
ReplyDeleteThe chairs are beautiful. they're like a breath of fresh air to your dining room The faux marble top is amazing. what a great idea. You and your sister are very good at restoration.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment, we're happy you like them. Please visit us again. Jeannie
ReplyDeleteReally cool find and redo. You did a wonderful redo.
ReplyDeleteI found you at Miss Mustard Seed, and am your newest follower!
You did a seriously fabulous job refinishing! Just beautiful! Hopped over from Furniture Feature Friday and I'm happy to be your newest follower. Would love to have you stop by for a visit. Blessings ~ Judy
ReplyDeletei'm so jealous! let me know if you find another set at that price--fabulous!
ReplyDeletehope you'll stop by and follow if you aren't already!
smiles.
michele
I love those chairs! Love the shape of the cane back. I would grabbed those up in a second if I saw them. Very nice job with the chalk paint. I too love using chalk paint and love that chalky look. I make my own because AS is so expensive. Thanks for sharing those lovely chairs!
ReplyDeleteGreat job and thanks for sharing this project with us. All our furniture is dark cherry and I'm sick of it but too expensive to get rid of and DH would kill me if I wanted to paint dark cherry furniture. He's from the old school..never touch good furniture. My dear in-laws had maple furniture and when they started showing signs of wear and tear, Dad would take them to the basement and put more varnish, stain or whatever on them..He must have thought they were a car or airplane..he used to paint those two things..for a living.Their furniture was good Ethan Allen type furniture and it held up for years through grandchildren and great grandchildren and when they died, it was given to a grandson that had 5 or 6 kids and those kids are grown now..wonder if they still have that set of furniture? I'll be following your progress on this blogspot. Good Luck and keep up the hard work. I'm proud of you undertaking this blogging.
ReplyDelete