A Grey and Blue Striped French chair

I bought some beautiful vintage Louis french chairs on eBay for $40 each.  A fabulous price because the guy sold them as Victorian chairs, if he's used the word French they would have gone for a lot more. Yay for bargains! Well I've finished one of them and my little boy has staked a claim on it for his upcoming 5th birthday.

I have to agree with Miss Mustard Seed and say that a staple gun is totally the wrong tool for the job but it's all I had so I made do. There were a couple of points along the way where I really doubted my ability to do this and nearly gave up but I'm so pleased I kept going. That blue upholstery trim hides a multitude of sins!!

Here is the before photo.

I took me ages to remove this tapestry upholstery. I ended up with blisters and sore hands.  I then sanded back the chair and painted the first coat in Dulux's Limed White and then second coat with Dulux's Limed White quarter strength. I then lightly distressed it and using a Walnut wood stain and a very fine artist's brush I highlighted the detail of the chair.  I was really scared of doing this but figured that I only paid $40 for each chair that I may as well experiment with it.  I then gave it all a top coat using a water based polyurethane.

I used the striped material as have made some curtains for my boy's bedroom with this material. The material also has a little bit of grey in it and it nicely matches the paint colour I used.  It was really hard doing the upholstery!  But I am pleased with the result.

and here is it next to the other chair I still have to do. My daughter wants this second one for her room.

after on left and before on right.

Fiona xx