I wanted new dining chairs for my own home to go with our antique Duncan Phyfe style dining table I restored. Previously we had leather parson's chairs but I have always loved the look of wooden pressback chairs so this is what I chose to replace them with.
And I am going to stain them WITHOUT stripping and sanding!
I had two sets of pressback chairs in my stock to paint, so I had to decide which set to use. My husband and I did a comfort and visual test, and we chose the slightly larger ones on the left. This set also includes two captain's chairs as a bonus.
I set the test chair at our table and the shape looks perfect
The first step is always to clean the pieces well. The chairs were sprayed with white lightning cleaner then scrubbed with a brush and water with some Dawn to get in all the nooks and crannies. Then each chair was given a rinse with clean water and dried.
A light scuff sanding with a sanding sponge then any sanding dust wiped off.
Wipe the excess off after about 5 minutes. It is that easy!
I set the first chair back at my table and it looks better but needs another coat of stain, this time with espresso as I want it darker.
So on went another layer of Gel Stain - espresso the next day.
More chairs got underway, repeating the same scrub, dry, scuff-sand, and stain process. See the lighter finish on the back lower edge of the chair?
And I set it back with my dining table too. Quite a change up from the pleather Parson's chairs right?
Now to get all 6 of the chairs completed.
The captains chairs were last to be done but you can see the first coat on the left chair compared to original stain on right.
And when all were stained and dry the table was now a completed set.
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I love the more old fashioned chairs to the pleather. The arms on the captain chairs look so comfortable. Great color!
ReplyDeleteThank you, it is a big change up for sure to the dining table look
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