🖼️
The project:
I had been looking for some dining chairs that didn’t come in a box and had to be put together. Not because that’s challenging but I had some and they fell apart. I wanted a good old fashioned sturdy dining chairs. I found these beauties at a garage sale. They were covered in many coats of horrible varnish and the webbing and cushions were shot, but with some TLC I brought them back to life. They are so comfortable and look beautiful, something I can pass down.
- Materials:
sand paper - lots of it.
I started at 80 grit and moved up slowly to 180 grit
Fiddies Walnut Stain Hard Wax Oil
Clear Hard Wax oil
TAC cloth
Steel wool
Warwick Fabrick blush for the seats and backs
I did get an upholsterer in my area to do the upholstery as they were in really bad shape.
- Tools:
125mm orbital sander
Clean white cloths
Paint Brush
- Step 1:
I removed the backs and seats and sent them off to be upholstered
And then I started sanding
I moved up slowly using a 125mm orbital sander and hand sanding to small crevices
I kept the sander on low so I could do it slowly and not change any of the shape of any of the corners or create flat spots
Once I got through all the grits up to 180 grit I rubbed down the chair with steel wool and cleaned it with a Tak cloth
- Step 2:
Stain
I then got my stain on!
The chairs are acacia which was not the right colour to match my dining room table so I purchased a beautiful walnut stain from a company called Fiddes. It’s a hard wax oil which is a natural product with no smell or harsh chemicals and it was such a warm natural colour. I used a brush to get it on , but you use the tiniest amount and very thin coat.
Hard wax oil brings old timber back to life! It just looks healthier after a coat and is also so much easier to fix later on if you get a scratch or scuff - unlike poly or varnish you don’t have to sand the whole piece back, you can just concentrate on the damaged area. That’s why I love hard wax oil!
- Step 3:
Final Coat
Do once the stain coat was fully dry I rubbed down the chairs with steel wool and cleaned them again with the tac cloth.
I then put a final coat of clear hard wax oil on with a brush, again a thin fine coat.
Once completely dry, I picked up the seats and backs from the upholsterer and attached them to the chairs. And they were done!
So happy with this and it’s especially lovely to bring back some beautiful hand crafted furniture back to life again.
