A Wilder Finish: Chair and table ensemble need a bit of love

Oh wow, how my new passion for DIY keeps me busy! I finished up this chair and little table combo recently and I really like how it turned out! It was a lot of fun and I learned a ton!!

I purchased this cute little set on CL for $30. Don't know if I overpaid but the chair is very good quality. Does anyone know anything about this style of chair? I couldn't find anything with my resources. The chair has a rush weave seat and there are no screws on the entire chair! The table was a bit rickety - but trusty screwdriver fixed that right up so no problem!

Here's How I did it!

I was torn about refinishing the chair because it is quite nice without my help. The spindle detail is very appealing. Alas, I did go the route of painting in order to give it a bit of pizzazz - you know, color. I decided to use this "oops" color from Lowe's - I only recently found out what the colloquial term was for the paint colors that they mess up and so they sell a $35 gallon of paint for $5 - which is a purplish blue. I'm going to be mixing my own colors soon but for now I just want to focus on the methodologies of refinishing. The paint colors will come soon….

Okay, first thing I decided was the rush weave was NOT to be touched, so I diligently taped the seat off. Next up, I sanded and primed the set. The chair was a bit of a pain to sand, given the spindle detail. I had read about using twine to get into the crevices. It worked, but I'm skeptical that it made a meaningful difference.

Here's a picture or two of the table just after I sanded it and remembered to take a photo while I primed it. Oh, and by the way - I learned the hard way the following equation:

paint + primer = just paint

Don't be fooled by the packaging on the paint at Lowe's or Home Depot; it's just a marketing ploy. Always use primer first or you'll regret it (unless you're using chalk paint, of course. At some point I'll opine on chalk paint but not today).

Yay! With sanding and priming done, I'm ready for the "oops" paint color. Two coats and I'm good to go for distressing! I don't have interim pics here, so you'll have to take my word for it. I love love the blue oops paint but I wanted to give the chair a bit more of an antiquey old wood feel, so I painted thin and practically air brushed strokes of marscipone white paint (Benjamin Moore color and not oops…I take my whites seriously) and blended the white with the "oops" using a 320-grit sand paper.

On the table, I found a really cute stencil shop on Etsy via Uniquely Chic blog that added the right balance of "chic" with this rather masculine chair.

And just the table…