Press back chair make-overs!

It's been a while, I know. I took time away from painting and blogging to work. Sometimes it does get in the way of my creative amusements! But I'm back with not one but two chair make-overs. I'll post them separately.

These are very pretty press back chairs. They are brand new made overseas $30 chairs that I crawled into the back of a tractor trailer in a remote parking lot to buy. Ya come to think of it, that does some kind of sketchy. But without going into needless details, you can trust me that it was fully legit. The real point is that these were not expensive, but they do look quite nice. See?

A couple more pics of the nice detail on the backs

I confess that I had a hard time actually going through with painting them because I though they were quite pretty. However, that being said, they are obviously brand new chairs, and right now I am in a vintage/antique/upcycled phase of decorating, so new will not do.

I really only wanted one chair. It was intended for the mudroom in our new addition--yes the one that has not been built yet but I a furnishing it anyway because I can hardly contain myself with the waiting--to go beside Audrey. Oh, if you haven't read my previous posts about upcycling a vintage hutch and buffet then you don't know about Audrey. Here she is;

Until the addition is built Audrey is sitting in the middle of my living room making it impossible to use that room. Anyway, I wanted the chair for my husband to sit on while he puts on his shoes and boots in the new mudroom (yes, I have a whole lifestyle fantasy going on here). I thought the chair should be duck egg and coco. However my husband announced that he thinks I have some kind of blue fetish and to just do it coco. One colour? No color washing? No distressing through to a base coat? Hello? I use Annie Sloan paints for a reason! We agreed on doing the chair similar to the old white and coco I used on Audrey's exterior. Here it is before the dark wax:

 

Oh, see the ladder back chair peeking out from behind? It's one of 6 I got for the new family room (that also hasn't been built yet). They're natural rush seats, circa 1910. I love them. Likely won't paint them. But you never know.

 

And after the dark wax,

 

 



I really didn't intend for them to match, and still think I would have preferred the chair to be duck egg with a coco wash. However, hubby really likes it, and seems very pleased with the whole mudroom vibe I am trying to create, so it's all good.

Okay, last pic. I found this cushion in Home Sense and couldn't resist buying it. I think it's PERFECT.

Next post I'll tell you what happened to the other press back chair. Trust me, it doesn't match Audrey!

Happy painting!
The Duchess of NewLife

I found this old iron dog

So, still purging away in preparation for our life-changing reno. I continue to be utterly astonished at the amount of stuff we have. How is it even possible to accumulate so much? No, I know exactly how. I cling to stuff because it reminds me of people, places, and it triggers bittersweet feelings.

 

Anyway, I was taking a box of things for donating out to the garage and I came across --no, I actually tripped over this old rusted iron doorstop in the shape of a very regal German Shepherd dog. He was lying face down in the dirt behind the garage. I have no idea how he got there or how long he had been there. I think it had been years since I last saw him.  When I first knew him he was a rich brown and he stood guard at our front door where I lived with my parents and sister. That was 53 years ago. Time, and apparently people, have not been good to him. Poor dog.

 

I picked him up, enjoying the memory of him in his better days, and wondered if he could be restored to his previous glory. Hmmm. Does Annie Sloan Chalk Paint work on rusted iron? and so the experiment began.

 

Now I had just completed my one and only chalk paint project. So I was a complete novice and therefore pretty cocky. I only had two colors of chalk paint at that point: Old White and Aubusson. I opted for Old White because I am pretty traditional and just couldn't picture a blue Shepherd. And besides, using the lighter color this would be an excellent opportunity to practice applying dark wax. It is so luscious looking. I could hardly wait to get into it! 

 

The paint adhered beautifully, and I was impressed by the great coverage with only one coat, rust and all. (Did I mention that while I like doing crafty things I am also extremely lazy? No way on earth am I going to clean the rust off before painting.) Then the wax. First soft clear wax followed by the dark. My first time with dark wax and I had absolutely no hesitation. I just covered that doggie in rich brown wax, waited a few minutes and then wiped it off. So much detail was suddenly highlighted. I had never realized how beautifully muscled that iron dog was.

 

So now he is an Old White iron dog. If I had it to do again, and that could happen, I think I might use Graphite. What do you think?

Of course I appreciate that you have nothing to compare the after pictures with, since it never occurred to me at the time that anyone would need/want to see what he looked like the day I found him in the dirt. And the idea of a blog hadn't occurred to me at that point either. 

 

Next project will be a dresser. Yes, with pretty much no real experience under my belt I will tackle the re-beautification of a pretty run of the mill mid-1960's colonial maple dresser! Stay tuned...

 

Blessings,

The Duchess of NewLife