DIY chair redo

when we moved into our house, i bought these two chairs off ksl and had my parents bring them when they helped us move.

shoutout to my amazing mama for meeting the lady somewhere near lehi and doing a little bargaining for me

i knew i wanted to update them somehow, but i wasn't sure what color, or if i would be ambitious enough to make a slipcover, or finally get so fed up that i just buy one..

 almost one year after being in our house, and discovering that i have an extra 8 weeks before school starts up again, i decided i was ready to tackle them.

i read about a billion tutorials on how people did theirs, and consulted with Mandy, my go-to design consultant everything consultant. i eventually got a decent idea about how to proceed, and priced out my list, then hit the stores to get everything i needed.

(i followed this tutorial really closely, and got my mixture ratio from her as well)

here's what i used (was able to get it for $6.99/bottle at my Joann), and here (from home depot, $32.99/gallon), and a closeup of the texture i was working with

i was terrified at first, because my paint goes on super light (THAT'S NOT NAVY..!!). but then i just said "screw it" and went for it! i'm so glad i did.

 

(another added bonus of painting: hiding mystery stains...! thanks, ksl)

that chair on the left was mooch's for the whole year we've all been together (the house, the dog, and us). training her off it was hard work. she took to it after a couple days, but not before jumping back on after i'd already vacuumed the crap out of it...getting her hair all up in the business again.

in case you were wondering why there's a vacuum out on a hardwood floor...

i just used a regular 2" bristled brush and a ratio of 1:1:1/2 mixture of paint, textile medium, water
and a couple few episodes of criminal minds

tutorials i read recommended spraying the area so the paint covers...i didn't do that, because my mixture was already so wet on those chairs... so i just went to town.

regrets: not finishing the whole mixture in one go. i let it sit overnight then finished the chair, because it got too late. i feel like if i had done it all at once i wouldn't have had to do a second coat.
also, not having great light the whole time. because this night? chairs looked awesome. in the daylight with some sun? monkey with hands over the eyes emoji. oh boy.

so. have good lighting and when you make your mixture, make sure you have enough time/energy to finish the whole thing.

yes.. i painted right in my living room. on my floor..! don't worry. it scraped off so easy and was way less work (and mess, believe it or not!) than dragging in an old drop cloth covered in overspray from all my recent spray paint projects. 

 regret #2: they really are not as comfortable as they were when we bought them. that was jordan's biggest stance against painting them. i told him not to worry about it. (monkey with hands over eyes again). but, i've read that rubbing fabric softener helps loosen things up a little, or heard that super fine grit sand paper will work.

for the time being, they're staying put. cause we never use them, i love how they look, and i've lost my chutzpah. (which actually means audacity in Hebrew, but i like it better to mean drive and ambition... *cry laughing face*)

and there you have it! my relatively easy, relatively inexpensive diy chair redo. 

(total cost: $48.67. i ended up with extra textile medium, and lots of extra paint, but glad for it by the time i realized i needed another coat. and when you compare that to the price of two brand new chairs.. not bad!)