Thursday, July 25, 2013

Your everyday every house Windsor chair REDO

 Imagine a natural windsor chair.  Like these

 That is what we started with. Then my friend Katie sanded all the seats down with a 150 grit, make sure you get all the finish off.

 This takes many hours, if you want to use an electrical sander a mouse one will probably be your best bet. We sanded first then did we taped all around the part where the spindles meet the seat.  Then we started painting the backs and bottoms of the chair with Zinsser oil based primer. We used a roller and then a wooser oil paint brush. This is something you should do with gloves (we did not) and in the right temperature. If its too hot your paint will start to thicken very quickly and you will get goops all over your chairs.


 If you get tons of goops never fear you can just wait 24 hours and then lightly sand them off with a 150 or higher sandpaper and it will be nice and smooth for your final paint coat.  So after we zinssered them all we waited at least 24 hours and then started painting the chairs with the cream with our nice brushes. Then you end up with this.

 Ready for stain! We tested a small spot to make sure we would like the look


 It had this barnwood look which looked very rich and full of character so we wiped on the stain and tried to be careful to not touch the bottom of the spindles. This did not always work as you can see here


 at the bottom so I came back through and touched them all up like this


going up with the brush, it was like cutting in on a wall but on a much smaller scale.


Then I ended up with this on all the spindles of all the chairs!


Then I was ready for my finish. 
Before you put your finish on make sure to go and touch up any makes on the paint.
I used Rustoluems water based polyurethane for my finish. I did some research and saw rave reviews about the ease of application and how well it looked when dried so I tried it. I used a foam brush and did 3 coats (as recommended on the label) It only takes 2 hours to dry!! And it cures in 3 days!! So I used it and LOVE the results. I can’t believe how beautiful it turned out! There were also no fumes, it smelled like shampoo to me! I am sold on this polyurethane and would recommend it to anyone for ease of use (you can also see when applying if you have put too much on there, its like a fluorescent purple white color so you just go back and smooth it out until clear) 
I also used the polyurethane on the paint to give it extra strength. 
It didn't yellow too badly and turned out well.
 

 These chairs went from plain wood to a much richer and older looking finish.


 As with all stain you can't control how the wood will take it so the end look of the chairs was this


 The one of the far right was the most different but I think they all have so much character now. I really love how they turned out. Here are some pictures of the chairs in action.





Who knew a windsor could look to elegant. 
Miriam




19 comments:

  1. i love these! particularly how each chair looks worn in its own way but there is still a strong look of unity! so cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How long did you wait until you sat in the chairs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Samantha i let thrm sit for at least 24 hours or until i couldnt smell varnish anymore :)

      Delete
  3. What paint did you use and what color?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi nelle b! I used just the base white in valspar :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi nelle b! I used just the base white in valspar :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I thought you weren't suppose to use a water base poly on an oil base stain?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It worked fine in this case. And its been going strong for 4 years now. So i thinks its good here, but these are judt chairs, i wouldnt go that route for a table top

      Delete
  7. I'm currently refinishing chairs and curious on how you removed the old finish around the spindles?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. useing tiny peices of sand paper OR I use my drill bit used to sanding in tiny places. with refinishing chairs I tend to paint the spindles A LOT becuase I don't want to have to get all the finish off :)

      Delete
    2. On the seat of the chair not the actual spindles.

      Delete
    3. That's exactly what were are doing with a chalk paint :)

      Delete
    4. Love how the chairs look. I redid much table.. now moving on to chairs.. the exact spindle chairs you did. Hogs did you jeep the the stain looking so smooth around the spindle of chair ? On my first attempt it collected near spindle and is darker on color around it. Amy tips

      Delete
    5. Typos ...how did you keep the stain looking so smooth around spindle of chair.. on my first attempt it collected near spindle and is darker .. even after I wiped it off

      Delete
  8. This is very late, but for the chairs with brown spindles, did you just sand as much as you could to "rough it up" and then paint over it? Really dreading getting all of the paint off the spindles of my chairs..

    ReplyDelete
  9. My chairs are same. Was going to buy new. I totally dig the polyurethane glossiness.
    Mine need a good cleaning, maybe some stain touch-up in spots. And polyurethane. I might be able to get it done without sanding. Very good condition just need updated look.
    Thanks for your advice!

    ReplyDelete
  10. How did you get such crisp lines around each spindle?

    ReplyDelete