Dining Chair Makeover Progress (And Why It’s A Bigger Project Than I Expected)

But what I couldn’t see on photos in the Marketplace listing was that these chairs had a very thick, intentionally sloppy, and very textured factory finish on them, the intent of which was to give them an aged and almost Old World look.

I didn’t even notice it when I picked them up or got them home and into the dining room. I didn’t even notice it until I started sanding them.

And then when I started sanding them, I noticed something else. Not only was there a thick, sloppy, textured factory finish on them, but there was also a series of intentional dents that had been put into the trim all around the chair backs and seats.

You can see the areas where my sander didn’t even touch the finish around the edge because it was like someone took a hammer and put a dent into the wood to make it look aged and worn. Again, it’s that intentional Old World look, and you can tell it’s intentional because of the almost perfectly even spacing between them (which is one big reason I hate these “aged” factory finishes).

It wasn’t just around the backs, but it was also on all four sides around the seats.

Fortunately, there was none of that on the backs of the chairs.

So I ended up re-sanding all of these chairs again, and this time I started with 80-grit sanding discs on my sander and I sanded out all of those dents. I was a bit nervous about how much I had to take off in order to get those areas smoothed out, but it worked out just fine. Of course, once I had them all sanded out with the 80-grit sandpaper, I had to go back and sand the again with 220-grit. Finally, by 7:00 yesterday evening, they were ready for primer.

I just want to remind you that the foam and fabric that I left on the chairs will be replaced. I just left that on there to protect the thick cardboard that supports the chair backs because I didn’t want to remove that cardboard and take a chance on ruining it, and I didn’t want to get paint on it.

So that’s as far as I’ve gotten, and that’s why these chairs have taken so long to get to this point. They still need another quick sanding with 220-grit, and then I can finally get them painted today. But when I brought them inside last night, I was so excited to see just how great they’re already looking (if you can look past the black fabric and old foam).

I also still need to put the clear coat on the table, but I love seeing how this is all coming together.

I also wanted to share these pictures because I thought y’all would get a kick out of them. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you about my sweet Cooper and how I’m pretty sure he missed his calling. I’ve always thought that he should have been a drug-sniffing dog or a bomb-sniffing dog because he is obsessed with sniffing.

Any time I bring something into the house, I have to stop and let him sniff it. And then he’ll continue sniffing until he’s satisfied. He does this with every person who walks through the door, every item I bring into the house, and he sniffs me repeatedly throughout the day any time I stand still or sit down. So when I brought the chairs in, he started his routine, sniffing every chair until he was satisfied. It’s cute, but the boy sure does slow me down. 😀