Spring Green Cottage Chairs

By Kate Riley March 25, 2010

Last week, I picked up a pair of dusty chairs at a thrift store.  I loved the classic cottage shape and the cheap price, but the finish was so grungy.  I brought them home and sanded them down to the raw wood, removing all the dirt and grime.  Then I gave them a fresh coat of spring green paint ! 

Here they are Before . . .

chairs before 2

. . . and After

chairs after painted

All it took was half an hour of sanding and and an hour of painting to give them a fresh new look with some paint and a little distressing !

The chairs were covered in grime when I found them.  Ewww.

dirt and grime 

Nothing that can’t be solved with some coarse sandpaper . . .

sandpaper treatment

 

A fresh coat of paint from my stash – this is Dutch Boy #582-03

dutch boy paint

 

A little distressing along the edges with more sandpaper . . .

distress edges

 

And that’s it !   I plan to give them a coat of Polycrylic this weekend. 

chairs after painted

 

I love the casual cottage look and the distressed edges !

distressed edges

 

I simply never get tired of spring green and white.

spring greens and chair

 

Isn’t the power of paint magically delicious ? 

Welcome Spring !

.

67 comments

  1. Truly fresh and inviting for this season. A little elbow grease and a can of paint can transform so many things into treasures.
    Please stop by my blog, I am hosting a contest :)

  2. gorgeous!!! i just emailed someone earlier today for a craigslist ad for two similar chairs b/c i am having a party next week and need more seating. want chairs that i can paint. Love the green you chose. So happy and spring-y!

  3. Beautiful chairs – i never get tired of spring green either – even in December, lol. I’m impressed that you could prep them in 1/2 hour, I probably would have added a lot of unnecessary sanding time to that, ugh. I like to torture myself that way, I spose ;)

  4. Wow! They cam out great. I really have to try this. Thanks for the step by step. I come across chairs all the time when I am “hunting” for my home. I will have to get one to try this out.

    ~jamilyn

  5. Very sweet. I do like me a bit of grundge too though you do need to be careful what you team it with to avoid it looking plain old and nasty! Your green is sublime.
    Kristine

  6. Could you have chosen a more PERFECT shade of green? I think not. LOVE LOVE it!!! The chairs are absolutey adorable.

  7. The chairs look great! I have two chairs from my grandmother that are very similar. I can’t bring myself to paint them because they have a hand painted design on the splat back. Your chairs turned out so well, I just might decide to paint mine. Hmmm, now where to put them.

  8. What a big difference it made in them. I love that color green you chose. So fresh and just perfect for summer.

  9. I’ve recently found your site and love the eye candy all your decorating ideas are – it’s like I’ve come home! I’ve been struggling with finding my “style” and think I’ve found it in your pages. My new favorite color is that spring green…let’s see, what can I paint with it?

  10. Absolutely perfect! What a lovely color too. Greens are my favorite color for decorating. We have green in our bedroom and both bathrooms and I just don’t get tired of it. Great project!

  11. So you got that ‘green fever’ too? I’m spray painting everything in green around here… and loving it! So refreshing! Your look gorgeous!!!

  12. That’s perfect! I have an old wooden chair that I knew I wanted to paint, but couldn’t decide on white or black. Spring green is it. I am so excited to get started!

  13. You truly have vision because I would have NEVER stopped to pick up those grungy chairs! Excellent job as usual! Beautiful!

  14. Love it! I realize it is not the focus of this post, but that little “Les Fleurs” thing with the jar is BRILLIANT! I must make one of those. I have a million billion jars. Leave it to me to be distracted by the accessories! :)

  15. i love love love it!!! did you make the mason jar flower holder/vase??? if so, can we have an instruction??? i want to copy it for my backyard!!!

  16. You never cease to amaze me. I think you should rent out space weekly in your house for wanna be crafty folk, so that we can soak up your skillz in person!

  17. Spring hasn’t sprung at our house:( Got a little snow last night.

    I really need spring to come. Love your chairs.

  18. Katie,
    What is polycrylic? And Have you ever thought about restaining kitchen cabinets? We’re buying a house, and they have perfectly new, golden oak cabinets, which are nice, but they just don’t fit our decor (darker woods)… Have you ever restained something like that? Bathroom cabinets or the like?
    Thanks so much!
    Michelle

  19. Oh, I love them- they’re gorgeous! Green and white are my favorite decorating colors. Makes me want to go paint something green.

  20. They look great!!! Makes me think about a couple of chairs that used to belong to my Grandma. I think my mom still has them. Maybe I should see if she still has them… You’ve given me an idea.

  21. You are seriously my furniture makeover HERO. For years I have been dying to get into making over some pieces in my home and rescuing a few pieces I have put aside in my garage (that have major potential). You have inspired me to give it a go. Thanks so much for the consistent fabulous posting!!

  22. I’m curious if these will weather the elements with just the paint? Did you put anything special on them to protect them for the outdoor environment. I just moved into a new home with a beautiful front porch and I would love to duplicate this!! You deffinitely have a knack!

  23. I am overjoyed at finding this Blog and I’ve already shared it with a lot of people. I could almost say word for word what Lynds said above. Seems you’ve inspired a lot of people!! I do have two questions: When to stain and when to paint? and How do you recognize real wood vs. veneers? I am curious about what I should NEVER paint and someone screams “oh gosh, I can’t believe you painted that!” and how you know when you should. Would love an answer from anyone! Thank you!!!!!!!!! Debbie

  24. BTW – LOVE these chairs! Colors are beautiful!! Going to the Thrift Store this weekend to see if I can find some too!

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