(No) Clouds in the Sky and Ratan Chair Makeover

Hi!

What a beautifull day today!

Cold but sunny! There's absolutely no clouds in the sky...

But there's one in Anouk's new ratan chair!

I've been collecting them in pinterest for a while :

Credit : April and May Studio

Via : Pinterest

Credit : Not on the higt street

via : Pinterest

They are cute and confortable (they work as lumbar cushions for kids!).

I got mine at Little Vintage Lovers .

It works perfect because the chair is a bit deep for Anouk.

I'm smitten by the way she sit ostensibly while drinking her feeding bottle.

I' not tottaly satisfied by the makeover.

I first spray painted with mat, then gloss. I wish I had something in between. But there wasn't a lot of spray paint choice.

Anyway. It's not that bad.

Remember how the chair looks before?

 

Crackles. Two coat of paint (one applied with a brush!). Ugly brown color.

As expected, stripping a ratan chair wasn't easy. It took a few nights to get it off.

Unfortunately, the ratan wasn't in very good condition, so I couldn't leave it as it.

I took advantage of last week's sunny weather for a second coat of spray paint...

And this is how it looks right now !

Kids Chair and Table Set Makeover

Hello!

Today, I'll share a very simple and cheap makeover in three steps :

- Sanding

- Washing

- Painting

Remember we started with this Ikea set found on the street :

It just needed a bit of love. Now, Anouk is having the best time of her life with it!

Sanding was super easy. I put all the pieces a part and sanded with a sanding sponge. The grain wasn't thinck so I was afraid it wouldn't work, but in fact it worked perfect. Can you tell the difference?

Much better indeed!

It took like 30 to 45 minutes to do both, table and chair.

Then, right after that you have to wash it with St Marc wash.

It is very important, especially for something found on the street, but also because it will open the wood fibers and allow the paint to stick better.

Sneak peek in the bathroom.

See how gross?

The two steps belows can be completed in one evening. Then the wood has to dry 48 hours.

About painting, I choosed a latex based paint for the chair (a sample was enough :-)) and used a small roll (that you can spot in the pic below). It dried super quickly and I could re-assembled the chair the same night.

For the table, however, I choosed a oil based paint. A well known french popular song says that oil paint is more difficult but prettier than water based paint. This is so true!

First, it is sticky and dries so slowly  (24 hours between each coats). It took a week to get the table done! Then oil is like nail polish : use a brush, load it with a big amount of paint, go slowly and DON'T go back.

Of course many times I did go back, but really the finish is much better on the parts I resisted the temptation.

This is what our LR looked like for a week...

For the top, I used chalckboard paint that I applied with a roll. Very easy.

I can't get enough of that color combo!

(This cracks me up!)