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:
Annie
Oh now I love this! You did an awesome job Julie! Thanks for sharing!
The House at Bluebird Lane
LOVE your Betsy Ross chair! It should definitely hang out with my dresser! 🙂
Atta Girl Amy
They should be pals, for sure!
JoAnne
I love this chair! You did a wonderful job on it.
Atta Girl Amy
Thanks, JoAnne!
Kathryn Cain
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
Diane @ The Checkered Apple
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!
Atta Girl Amy
Thanks, Diane. Love the link party. Can’t wait to check out some of the newest links.
Kristen
I LOVE what you did with those chairs…just awesome!
Atta Girl Amy
Thank you, Kristen.
debra j
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