Little Blue Chair Reveal

I’ve been looking for a chair to put on my front porch as part of a ‘porch makeover’.  I found this little beauty at our local thrift store marked $10.00 but all furniture was 50% off that day – yeah!  I decided I wanted to create the look of peeling wallpaper on the seat (not sure I accomplished that!) so I started with this scrapbooking paper that had the original blue of the chair in it (which I loved and wanted to keep).  

I began by using some of my rubber stamps to make ‘stains’, etc. all over the paper. I then lightly sanded the paper to remove the gloss and make it look worn.  Using a  mustard yellow ink and a sponge I rubbed that color randomly over everything.  Next I began tearing the paper into pieces. 

 

 

In order to get the nice, ragged edge on top, you need to tear the paper up towards you as shown here.  That finished, I sponged the yellow ink over the torn edges.

For the chair I had to prime the parts I was going to paint so that meant lots of pain-staking taping off first.  Once she was primed and the paper/tape removed, it was time to start painting.  Since this was water-based acrylic paint, I knew it was going to take several coats to cover – it took four.  In between coats, I was working on the paper pieces.

 

Once I was finished painting the chair parts, I sanded randomly to reveal the blue paint and wood underneath.  The colors were too vivid for my taste so I wiped on several coats of a dark walnut stain using a cloth and did not wipe it off.

 

Next, using Mod Podge I applied the pieces of paper to the seat making sure to have some pieces come down over the edge of the seat.  I also cut out some of the flowers from the paper, punched a hole in the center and made a cut in each so I could wrap them around each spindle.  Once this dried, I applied another coat of walnut stain over the entire chair.  This gave a nice, worn, vintage look to the whole piece.  Finally, I had to apply several thick coats of polyurethane for protection from the elements and to build up a thick layer over the paper on the seat.

 

I love the way this little beauty turned out and let me tell you, this is one COMFY chair so I’m definitely not adding any cushions.  Still lots to do on the porch but this at least is a start!  

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