We recently moved and our new kitchen was smaller than our old kitchen so a new dining table was in order. I found the cutest ever drop leaf antique table from Salvation Army that was PERFECT for the space. I have yet to redo the table, but I had 2 antique chairs that had been in storage that turned out to be exactly what I needed.
I found these chairs at different locations at different times but they are sooo similar. I call one the Sunflower chair and the other the Rose chair. They were both solidly built and structurally fine but needed some TLC in the looks department.
These are the before pics of the chairs:
Sunflower Chair
Rose Chair
I removed the seats from both chairs by removing the screws from underneath. The popped right off so I then began removing the old fabric. It was VERY old fabric. Very dirty, very dingy, very gross really. One had the fabric stapled on with staples that literally crumbled from rust as I pulled them out while the other actually had the fabric nailed on. Why nails? I have absolutely NO idea. Seemed like a bit much but maybe they didn’t have a stapler.
I replaced the cotton padding before adding the new fabric to each seat. The fabric was scraps in the bin at Walmart that cost less than $2. It was enough to cover both seats perfectly.
Next, I took the chairs outside and scrubbed each of them down. They were pretty grimy but cleaned up quickly and easily. A sanding to remove the old flaking finish was in order next. I sanded each chair down to a nice smooth surface before again wiping them down to remove any dust.
I did the Sunflower chair first. It was a gorgeous day outside so I went out and coated her with a layer of primer. I did the same with the Rose chair.
Once the primer was dried I painted each chair a gloss white. After that dried came the fun part…antiquing the flowers. Adding glaze to the detail of these chairs really made them POP. I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and they go together amazingly well considered they are just a pair of mis-matched antique flower chairs that I randomly found.
Antique Chair Glazing
Quite the difference, right?!
I glazed the flowers of both chairs and then proceeded to screw the seats back onto the chair frames. I LOVE how they turned out and they look amazing with the table (pics of the table soon!)
What do ya think?
Antique Flower Chairs -Done
