Antique Chair Rescue with Chalk Paint

For years my antique farmhouse table has been surrounded by mismatched old white chairs. All were in some shade of chippy-white. But as my chairs slowly started to die off (ahem: BREAK) I started to search for a matching set to take their place. 

My mom stumbled upon an antique set of 4 chairs at the local Salvation Army for $8 a piece. 

She did some babysitting while I went to snatch them up... love me some thrift store furniture. 

But when I got them home I discovered that they had previously been owned by a smoker/cat lady! P.U. 

It was okay though, because like most of my furniture, I had plans to chalk paint them. And, with the help of my momma, this was my first reupholstering project. 

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint with a first layer of Lem Lem and a second coat in Duck Egg Blue. Then sealed it off with clear wax after distressing.

 I scrubbed them down first, and that really helped get rid of the smell before I even started painting.

Then, we reupholstered the seats in a French toile fabric I had found at Hobby Lobby. 

Upholstering is pretty easy (for something as simple as these chairs). 

And when you have a good mom/teacher.

I'm sure you're all curious about the "Before" so here is a low quality cell phone picture to help you get an idea. Dark, shiny wood with several layers of upholstery. Very scratched up.

Not pretty, but lots of potential to be.

I really loved the front feet.

These were my anniversary flowers from my husband that he bought from a local flower farm. 

*Heart Eyes*

He's a keeper.

Fresh flowers always go well with dining tables and chairs. ;)

Two of the seats had to be replaced, because they were cracked - when pulling them apart we found STRAW STUFFING! That's how you know they are really old. The real deal.

My mom found a tag underneath the chairs, and they date back to the late 1800's! 

Made by: Phoenix Chair Co. from Sheboygan, WI a.k.a. The Furniture Capital of the World

The tags are hard to read, but one of the clearer ones said they are genuine walnut... maybe someday if I get sick of the color, they will get stripped back down and re stained or waxed. 

My mother-in-law also pointed out that you can tell a chair is old when the back piece is all one with the back legs. I had never noticed that before, but now I'll be on the look out for that! 

They are definitely a very quality made chair. They've been around for so long and are still extremely sturdy. They hardly creek or squeak. 

Yet another reason to not be scared of old thrift store furniture! 

You just have to know what to hunt for.

Here you can see a bit of how the distressing turned out. 

Painting Tip: to save money and time I only painted the Lem Lem (green) in the areas I knew I would be distressing and wanting it to show through.

I am super happy with the fabric I found, and have noticed it in several other blogger/instagramers homes that I follow and love. And I've spotted it a couple times on Pinterest too. I didn't know it was so popular, but I can see why. I love the soft greens and deep jewel tone blues. 

The fabric colors certainly aren't an exact match with the paint colors, and that's okay with me. 

I've been trying to get away from being so matchy-matchy with decorating, because that's no fun. And really, that's not what the true professionals do anyways. 

The colors more just complement each other. They all work in my serene color scheme, and that's good enough for me. No need to overdue the matching.

They are also the perfect chairs for the small toddler boy to climb...

He can step right up on the bottom rung and be up to get into whatever is on top of the table in 2.7 seconds flat. 

Send help.

I'm so glad I was the one to take these chairs home for my table. After paint and new upholstery they are basically good as new... heck, they are better than new, because you can't find this kind of quality nowadays. I figure if they can make it from the late 1800's til now, then they can survive in my house with my two destructive boys. ;) 

Someone else may not have appreciated (or even discovered) the fact that they were so old and special and could have just brought them back or thrown them out once they got a whiff! 

The smokey cat smell is gone, and they are here to stay!

Thanks for stopping by the blog.

I hope you all have a blessed week.

~Olivia

Sharing at: Feathered Nest Friday