We’ve been searching for dining room chairs FOR-EVAR so when we stumbled upon these old Queen Anne chairs at an antique/thrift store, I thought, “hmmm… maybe these could work… with a little work.” We haggled over the price with the storekeeper and ended up getting all 6 at $50 each. Not too shabby, when Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware are selling their versions of the Queen Anne chair at over $200 a pop. I grew up on Queen Anne chairs and their traditional formality holds a special little place in my furniture-lovin’ heart. But as you know, I can’t leave well enough alone, nor can I resist a good DIY project. I think it’ll do some good to give these old ladies a little face lift.
I failed to get a ‘before’ photo, but they had a rich cherry finish with a cream damask upholstered seat. Husband unscrewed the seat from the chair and I gave them a quick sanding with my power sander:
Sanded and waiting for primer
I wasn’t too concerned with getting down to raw wood, since I’d planned on priming them. After sanding, I wiped them down with a damp rag and attacked them with a coat of white primer:
One primed, five more to go
Here’s a close-up after I brushed on a coat of primer. Ugly with a capital U-G-L-Y, right? Painting’s never been my strongpoint, folks.
Finally! All 6 chairs are done… for now. Now I have to actually paint them.
Meanwhile, as the primer dried, I reupholstered the seats. And by ‘reupholstered,’ I mean ‘stapled some new fabric over the old.’ The old padding was still in great shape, so I didn’t bother replacing it. I bought 2 yards of this zigzag fabric at $9.99/yard. Well, looky there, my beloved chevron pattern finally makes its grand appearance in my home! Yay!
Reupholstered seats
And here’s a gratuitous shot of Evie, patiently waiting for me to finish reupholstering the seats. She is just so darn cute, I couldn’t help myself (you’re welcome).
The next day, I brushed on the first coat of white, glossy paint. Then I let it dry overnight, then put on the final coat. After another 48 hours of drying time, I brought the chairs back into the house.
Here’s a close-up of the seat. I love that this chevron fabric has a subtle slub texture to it:
Granny got a facelift!
I love mixing old and new, traditional and modern. And I am loving the traditional silhouette of the Queen Anne chair with this crisp new modern treatment. What do you think?
LOVE THEM. Oh my god. If you ever get tired of them, I would be glad to take them off your hands.
Stopping by from the YHL linky party.
Love them! We have chairs that are really similar to this, and I'm dying to paint and recover them…once I can afford it! Until then, I'll use yours as inspiration. Thanks for sharing! Also, your little girl is darling. 🙂
I love your project!! I just featured it on my blog! I'm a new follower!
xoxo,Patty.
wwww.mycraftspotlight.com
Aw, thanks so much Patty!
Off to check out your blog now…
that evie is the cutest girlie i have ever seen!
thank you for such lovely inspiration! found you at MMS’s link party, always a favorite!
hope you can swing by:
http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/2012/07/summer-sale-giveaway.html
smiles to you.
michele
Love your chairs! Love the white and the chevron. They came out great!
These chairs turned out great! I have been wanting to do this to my dining room chairs which are very similar. You may have given the courage to do it! 🙂 I’ve been afraid with all the curves, it would take forever and would not look even. I have a few questions for you – Did you prime by hand or with a sprayer? What color white paint did you use? Did you use a wax or poly finish? I hope you get a chance to respond. Thanks!! Maureen
Your chairs look amazing! I have a similar set of 6 chairs that I bought for $50 for the whole set about 6 years ago. They’ve been waiting for love, and I’ve kept them covered with chair covers. I think this is the inspiration I’ve been looking for.
BTW- I’d love to see your chairs with the table, for more inspiration!
I actually have my grandmothers Queen Anne dining table and chairs. They are in horrendous condition being passed around thru the years and no one taking care of the set. So I just tried a gel wood stain in one chair. Although the color is wonderful, it also needs to be sanded. So back to square one. Sanding is a must.