I Think I’ll Actually Have Dining Chairs Soon!!

There might actually be a light at the end of the tunnel in the whole dining chair saga.  Do you remember my inspiration chairs that I found at House Beautiful.

dining chair inspiration

I think I may be well on my way towards something very similar.  I showed you a couple of days ago that I had painted the chairs the same color as my cabinets.

dining chairs 3

But if you’ll notice, the chairs in the inspiration photo have a bit of a dry brushed finish on them.  I really like that finish, and wanted to replicate it as closely as possible (using only paint I already had since I want to spend as little money as possible on this).  I was also anxious to tone down that semi-gloss shine on my newly painted chairs.

So I broke out the flat black paint and did a little dry-brushing over the teal paint, followed by some very light sanding with 330 grit sandpaper, and this is how it turned out.

dining chair progress 8

You can see that there’s a very subtle difference.  The one on the left has more dimension…more age…more character.  The one on the right just looks flat and blah.

dining chair progress 7

I’m really quite pleased with how it turned out.  Dry brushing over semi-gloss paint is not really ideal, so it was a bit challenging to get the finish to look just like I liked it.

dining chair progress 6

I think that little bit of dry brushing and light sanding made all the difference in the world.  And now it’s much closer to my inspiration chair!

dining chair progress 5

Now the next challenge was finding just the right fabric.  I had to go to JoAnn Fabrics yesterday to get supplies for another project, so while I was there I looked for the perfect orange fabric.  I searched all through the decorator fabrics…nothing.  I searched all through the apparel fabrics…nada.

I was about to give up my search, when I was passing by the discount fabrics at the very back of the store, and there, peeking out from the other bolts of fabric, was the perfect fabric.

dining chair progress 3

What do you think?  Isn’t it just perfect?!

Ha! I’m kidding!!!

Actually, that really is the fabric that I bought for the chairs, but I’m going to use the back side of the fabric.

dining chair progress 2

Aahhh…much better.  This fabric was regularly $7/yard, but it was on sale for 50% off, so I got the fabric for both chairs for $3.50/yard!!  Can’t beat that!!

I also got the foam 50% off, the buttons 50% off.  Actually, I think just about everything I bought yesterday was on sale.  Seriously, if you live near a JoAnn Fabrics, you might want to stop in and stock up on stuff.

Anyway, I also bought some darker blue for the buttons and the piping around the edge.

dining chair progress 1

Although after getting it home, I almost wish I had bought a darker blue.  Hmmm…I may have to replace that.

So my little chairs are well on their way, and I think they may actually end up looking very much like the inspiration chairs, which is always exciting!

 


 

 

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7 Comments

  1. You got me!
    A chill actually ran through me when I saw your fabric choice. The dry brushing looks fantastic. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished chairs.

  2. So glad you are using the underside of the fabric 🙂 What exactly is dry brushing? Literally, it sounds pretty basic, but I am thinking there is more to it…

  3. HAhahaha you totally got me, too! I was really scared when I saw the fabric! What a great idea to use the back!!

    Also, I ADORE the dry brushing!

  4. Love your blog! So inspiring and down to earth.
    Tx so much for sharing your technique. You've made it look so simple. This finish is exactly what I want & was intimidated to try. Will be hunting the lisitngs for sure now.

  5. Hi, what paint brand and color did you use for your chairs? Exactly what I’ve been looking for! Thanks.