Ta Da!!

Ok, I know this has been a long time coming, but I've finally finished the first of my vintage chair makeovers. I decided to paint the two seater white, so I can play around with colours and fabrics to my little heart's content. Here she is:

I've loved this black paisley for ages, and really like it for the seat cushion. I agonised over whether to paint the chair black, but now I can use fabric as the focus, and then change my mind when I get sick of it - which is often!

It was really a quick and easy way to give new life to a tired old piece. The set was in perfect condition, and all it needed was a quick clean, priming with a coat of sealer/undercoat (I always use Zinsser, it's fantastic and works on all finishes) and three coats of white gloss via my new best friend, this baby.

I seriously wish I'd bought one of these sooner - it's fantastic and so easy to use.

Here are the befores (sorry, forgot to take one of the two-seater, I was in far too much of a hurry to get going!)

And now...

 ...here she is all painted and pretty.

I did have one issue, for some reason I had this weird hot pink sap? leach out when the first coat went on. I have no idea why this happened - anyone have any ideas?

 Looks just as good with some neutral taupe cushions

 

I'd had this Ralph Lauren fabric stashed away, and initially thought it would look great on the seat cushion. After I saw it, I realised it was just wrong, so kept tweaking things until I was happy.

I threw a white matelasse quilt over the seat, and I quite like it in combination with the crisp blue on the cushions.

Ok, so now all I have to decide on is some gorgeous cushions. I like the black and blue and white so far, but then I was visiting the lovely Judy's blog, Verandah House, when I saw these:

Les Indiennes by Mary Mulcahy

 ...and these..

...and now I'm loving this green! I think I might paint a chinoiserie-style artwork for above chair, similar to the wallpaper above. And those of you who read Viv's lovely blog will recognise the piece on the wall, my daughter saw it and fell in love with it, so we just had to get one.

So, what do you think? You guys are all so chic and stylish I'm sure you'll give me even more pretties to add to the mix, but hey - that's the fun part! Oh, and this little makeover is a part of the Best DIY Projects in April Link Party over at Beneath my Heart blog, so go check out some of the other amazing transformations on show.

Enjoy the rest of your day,