Yesterday, I told you about my awesome yard sale score of four (likely antique, but definitely vintage) Lexington Furniture wooden chairs for less than $5 each.
The first got a “refreshing” coat of paint, my tribute to Coca-Cola. In case you’ve forgotten, here’s my Coca-Cola chair:
As much as I despise painting chairs — all those spindles make for hundreds of “missed-a-spot” moments — I couldn’t leave these babies brown for long.
For Chair #2, I took inspiration from a pair of patriotic swags I bought for $2 total — take that Plow & Hearth! — at a yard sale. Can’t wait to hang these babies on my front porch for the 4th, but I digress.
The flag swags and the recent Memorial Day weekend put me in a patriotic mood, so I set out to transform one of my chairs with a flag motif.
The before:
And the after:
The seat and back got a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Aubusson Blue (one of my favorite colors!). The legs and spindles, I painted Emperor’s Silk, and the stretchers and center spindle I painted Old White.
I went back and forth over how to decorate the seat and asked my husband for his opinion, too. Initially, I thought of doing just a single star on the seat, but decided that would look too Lone Star State, and Texas wasn’t the statement I was trying to make. Eventually, I settled on Betsy Ross’s flag with a star for each of the 13 colonies — fitting since I live in North Carolina. Here’s a good look at the stars:
I made a stencil using my Silhouette Cameo and painted the circle of stars on in Old White. As with the Coca-Cola chair, I sanded this chair BEFORE waxing it because I wanted it to look old, weathered and somewhat distressed. I finished it all with a couple coats of clear wax and buffed it to a shine.
I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out. I think the chair looks quite nice on my front porch alongside my red-and-white petunias and that terrific bandana print tablecloth that I bought right out of the display window of a new favorite shop, Vintage Cottage in Asheboro, N.C. As much as I love the chair, though, I think I’ll be selling it this weekend at Craft at the Crossing Art Festival in Huntersville, N.C.
Linking up to the following parties:
nice! i have an affinity for “older” pieces of furniture, and if i can find a likely chair, i might do one of these for my front porch stoop or yard for the 4th of july (to hold a plant or something). looks good! thanx!
debra
I LOVE what you did with those chairs…just awesome!
Thank you, Kristen.
Amy,
Love your patriotic chair and it looks perfect on your porch too!
Thanks so much for coming to my Patriotic Link Party! Have a great weekend at the craft festival!
Thanks, Diane. Love the link party. Can’t wait to check out some of the newest links.
love both…like you chairs drive me crazy…yes miss a spot…but these ideas…rock. If you do not mind…I may steal the idea…but before stated…I will do a single stare …I do live in Texas…we have a big parade and rodeo..right down the street where the shop I have my stuff sells from….your patriotic chair will sell first day I bet
how did you post two pics
I love this chair! You did a wonderful job on it.
Thanks, JoAnne!
LOVE your Betsy Ross chair! It should definitely hang out with my dresser!
They should be pals, for sure!