Dining Room Chair Makeover – Part 1

We have been the not-so-proud owners of a square dining room table and a measly two chairs from Ikea for as long as we have been married (5 years and counting).  The table is boring but functional. Unfortunately it is uncomfortable the moment we invite anyone over for dinner. Not to mention we only have 2 chairs for a family of 4. So each night at dinner I, Matt, usually end up sitting in a folding chair.  The past 5 years we have lived in a house or apartment that couldn’t handle a table any bigger than what we have. All that to say, we are so excited to move into a new house that has a formal dining room big enough for a round table (an absolute must for The Redbird) and a set of chairs.  With our “set” definition now being more than 2.  Wahoo.

On a recent trip to the local consignment shop, where good deals are usually hard to come by, we found a round table and a set of 4 dining chairs. We will feature the table makeover in a later project, but today, it’s all about the chairs. They are older, sturdy, with a traditional design and some old cushions that are in desperate need of a fresh replacement.

We spent a few weeks browsing blogs like Young House Love (one of our new faves), using google image searches and flipping through home magazines to decide how we wanted our new chairs to look. We decided that white dining room chairs was the look we’re going for.  So after picking up some oil-based primer and white latex paint, we were ready to start.

Taking off the seat cushions was easy. A flathead screwdriver was all that was needed to unscrew the four screws. Next we wiped down the chairs to be ready for the coat of oil-based primer. Using a brush, I applied the primer. This took a while to get into all the different angles but nothing too challenging.

After the primer dried it took 2 coats of brushed on latex white paint to achieve a coverage we were satisfied with. I have seen people paint chairs with spray paint and electric sprayers and I am sure spraying on paint to a chair is the ideal method but we were going to have the paint lying around for future projects and we don’t have a sprayer…yet. You don’t need to sand if the old finish is well worn. However, with a dark stain it might have been a good idea for me to sand a little more or make sure that I got a better coat of the oil-based primer to avoid the stain leaking through the white paint. Really though it was as simple as applying a few coats of paint with an angle tipped brush.

And this picture is just a teaser. As you can see some of the painting wasn’t even finished when this was taken. In the next post we will share the chairs with the final coat of bright white paint and the amazingly vibrant fabric we chose to use on our re-padded seats.

So what do you think of white dining room chairs? Do you think we should go with a white, light or dark dining room table?

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