Monday, October 3, 2011

Staining Wood

Happy Monday, everyone!  I love Mondays.  If only it were 70 degrees instead of mid 80's so it would feel more fall-ish.  Saturday I went running at 1pm and it was 90 degrees.  I was all like "hey, it's October.  Who cares what the weather man says.  It won't be hot."  Then I was so ticked off when I got home because I almost died of heat exhaustion.  Then I watched General Conference with the babe and hubs so it got all better (of course I laid there in a puddle of sweat because I couldn't move -- the heat exhaustion).  But alas, it's not going to be cool today either so maybe I'll take the babe to the pool.  Anyway, I wanted to share my first "major" upholstery project with you today and give some tips on refinishing wood.  And if that wasn't an awesome segue, I don't know what is.

Before

After

The absolute best thing about this chair is that I got it for $2 at a garage sale.  I know, you can't believe it, right?  I wouldn't either if I hadn't been there!

I'm so sorry that I don't have pictures of the process but I'm going to explain the best I can and keep it brief.

1. I started by sanding the wood.  If I had it to do over I would have stripped the wood because sanding took a long time and didn't get all the other varnish off so when it was finished it was two toned.

2. After sanding I washed it with a wet rag to get the dust off.

3. Then I stained it a very dark brown that I got at Lowe's.

4. When it was the color I wanted, I spray painted a polyurethane finish on it to give it the shine.  After the first coat, I sanded, then sprayed another coat and sanded.  I think I did it about 4 times to get the smooth feel like a professional piece of furniture might have.  If you only do it once the wood feels very splintery.  I used fine grit sand paper but the guy at Lowe's told me to use steel wool to sand, then another guy that was there when he said it found me in the parking lot and told me to use sand paper not steel wool.  I have no idea why.  Sorry I can't be more helpful.

5. I stapled the upholstery and hot glued the piping and it was done (I'll do a tutorial on the upholstery in a couple of weeks with another chair I just got).


Linking up at the great Linky parties found at the bottom of the blog.  They are where I find most of my inspiration!  Check them out!

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22 comments:

  1. What a great transformation! I have been looking for a chair similar to yours to use in our bedroom. You scored for sure!

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  2. Before I tell you how awesome of a job you did, I have the extreme need to LAUGH my butt off at the before of the chair. Just look at that fabric! What a completely STRANGE mix of patterns... lol.

    Now, as promised, you did an AWESOME job. The chair looks beautiful. :)

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  3. That chair IS too funny. It looks beautiful now though! Thanks for following The Shabby Tulip! I'm following you too:)

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  4. Absolutely fantastic! Love the dark wood with the light fabric. You rock!

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  5. This is beautiful! I have a had a chair very similar to this for about 4 years and I have been wanting to redo it for about 3 of those. I think you finally inspired me to do it! Thanks!

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  6. What a wonderful transformation. It's gorgeous now!

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  7. love it! found you via craftomaniac!

    hope you'll enter my giveaway:

    http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-stencil-splendor-giveaway.html

    michele

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  8. Absolutely gorgeous transformation :)

    I like to invite you to share this at my FIRST EVER linky party :) @ http://www.jaqsstudio.com/2011/10/jaqs-studio-first-ever-linky-party.html

    -Q

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  9. The chair looks great now, what a super transformation job you did.
    I've never attemmpted to do anything like this myself so hats off to you!

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  10. I'm always looking for chairs like that when I'm out and about! How nice that you found such a bargain...and have made it look so beautiful! Good Job! Thank you for sharing the process!

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  11. WOW!! What a SPECTACULAR transformation! BEAUTIFUL contrast of stain and fabric too!

    Deborah ♥♥ (visiting happily from http://upcyclingmylife.blogspot.com/... hope you can stop by some time…)

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  12. Awesome Job, followig you on gfc from wednesday Hop!.
    Angela & Angelica
    http://Groovybabyblog.blogspot.com

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  13. Chair makeovers are my favorite...fabric plus paint/stain is always fun. I love the fabric you chose. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. MUCH more sophisticated! Thank you for linking to Wicked Awesome Wednesday!

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  15. Looks great! I love the fabric and stain you used.

    I am a new follower. Hope you can visitmy blog too.

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  16. I definitely agree with stripping before sanding. You will never get the color totally out though, unless you bleach the wood. But even still, I think it looks AWESOME. And two tones is nicer anyway, patina and all that. :o)

    Found you over on Flaunt it Friday.

    Statia - diylearningcurve.com

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  17. Your chair looks great. Love the fabric it looks good with the dark stain. I just completed a couple projects, stop by for a blog visit.

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  18. Very nice! It looks so good with that dark stain! You sure can't beat a $2 chair!

    Thanks so much for linking to Potpourri Friday. You participation is appreciated.

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  19. It looks fantastic with that dark stain! Very nice! Thank you for linking up with Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

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