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How to paint cane furniture

Hi everyone, I have been lucky to inherit 2 cane chairs and a large coffee table that once belonged to my grandparents. They had this furniture before I was born (38 yrs ago). As you can imagine, this furniture has a lot of meaning to me and I’m looking for ideas on how I could revive it. I’m hoping someone can give me some guidance on A) restoring the cane to it’s natural self or B) Painting the cane.

Thank you in advance. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome!

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Jason

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Diy_Shell.

I can understand the furniture must be very special to you and you want to be careful restoring it. We'd love to help. Can I please suggest you share some photos so members can see what condition the pieces are in and be in a much better position to suggest next steps? Please let me know if you need a hand sharing some photos.

We're looking forward to seeing how you can restore the furniture to its former glory.

Thanks for joining in the discussion. Please don't hesitate to post anytime you need a hand. We're pleased to have you join us and look forward to reading about all your projects and plans for all around the house and garden. We're sure you will get plenty of helpful information, advice and inspiration from our amazing community members.

Jason

Diy_Shell

Hi @Jason

I have attached a couple of pics of the chair arms as they show the worst of the wear. Thanks for getting in touch! Again, any suggestions are more than welcome!

EricL

Hello @Diy_Shell

Thank you for sharing your question about how to paint cane furniture.

You have a few choices on how to proceed. It all depends on what you wish to do with these chairs. Do you wish to keep its character and not change anything about it, but keep it protected at the same time? Do you want it to give it a fresh new look? Do you want to colour it? I've written some options for you to consider.

The first option is to leave the finish as is and give the cane furniture a thorough wash with sugar soap and re-varnish. This will keep the character of the chair with its faded parts but it will now have a new protective coating on it.
The second option is to give it a detailed sanding. You will remove all the old varnish on it and reapply your choice of stain and varnish. I recommend using the Ozito 200W Detail Sander.
The third option is to wash it again with sugar soap and apply Dulux 1L PRECISION Maximum Strength Adhesion Primer White. This will allow you to paint the chair any colour you like without having to sand the chair down.

Please look carefully at the chair and make sure that it is still structurally firm should you decide to sand it down. Cane chair bindings will sometimes become brittle as time moves on. It may be something to consider as it becomes another item that you may have to repair.

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to restore wooden furniture

Let me tag our experienced members @TedBear and @tom_builds for their recommendations.

We look forward to seeing your chairs restored and ready for use.

Eric

LizzieCro

Hi DIY Shell,

I paint a lot of old furniture and have dealt with cane furniture often. In your case, if it was mine, I would give it a light sand using 240 grit sandpaper. Personally I would do this by hand. You'll find the varnish, being so old, will be quite brittle, so should come away quite easily. If you intend re-varnishing, best to sand all the varnish off. It'll be tedious, but worth it in the end. If you'd rather paint it, then all you'll need to do with the sandpaper is get it to a smooth finish, and won't have to thoroughly remove it. Wipe it down afterwards with metho, which will remove any excess dust, dirt and grease. I generally just use a spray paint, such as Rustoleum Primer + Paint, which has very good adhesion. It comes in a wide range of colours, although classic white (in Rustoleum it's Blossom White) will team with any decor and fabric. Go for either a satin or full gloss finish so that keeping it clean will be easier.
I'd love to see what you do with the chairs. Good luck!

EricL

Hello @LizzieCro

Thank you so much for joining the discussion. Let me tag @Diy_Shell so that they are made aware of your recommendation. Your suggestion of hand sanding the furniture is excellent. Due to the age of the chair, the varnish should come off quite easily. I would suggest a darker fabric for the re-upholster to hide stains if the chair is to be used often. If you have any future projects you would like to share, please make sure to keep us updated.

Eric

tom_builds

Hi @Diy_Shell,

It's awesome to hear that you are looking to restore this furniture that your grandparents obviously held dearly for such a long time.

My dad has a lounge suite that is older than I am, and still in use today. It has had multiple reuphosters over its life but continues to be an excellent piece of furniture.

The suggestions of @EricL and @LizzieCro are great, and obviously give you a number of options. I'm a bit of a sucker for natural wood finishes so I like the idea of giving it a gentle sand back, possibly even a light stain to bring back some colour, and then a fresh coat varnish.

Whichever path you go down it would be great to see the finished product if you could upload some photos when you're done!

Best of luck 😃

Diy_Shell

Hi @EricL

Thank you for all your advice! I went and picked up the detail sander yesterday from Bunnings along with some other bits and pieces to start my project. After reading the replies on this thread I’m feeling very confident in starting. I will get started later in the week and keep you updated on my progress.
once again, thank you for taking the time to help out!

Diy_Shell

Hi @LizzieCro , thank you for taking the time to help out! I’m pretty set on the idea of painting and I went to Bunnings yesterday and picked up the pain you suggested in Blossom white. I will keep you updated on my progress.
Once again,

Thank you for your help!

Diy_Shell

Hey @tom_builds , thanks for your advice! It’s really cool to hear about your Dad’s lounge suite! They really made furniture to last back in the day!
I’m pretty set on painting but also definitely love the natural wood look…. Dilemmas…. Either way I have given myself until the weekend to get started so will definitely know what I’m doing by then (hopefully) I will keep you updated.

Again, thanks for taking the time to help out.

EricL

Hello @Diy_Shell

It's great that you've received fantastic advice from @LizzieCro and @tom_builds. Please make sure to post photos of the renovation from beginning to end. I'm sure our members would love to see the transformation of the chairs.

Please keep us updated, we look forward to seeing the cane chairs painted and ready for use.

Eric

Diy_Shell

Hi,

I would like to share an update on my cane chair! I ended up settling on painting the chair in black and I’m now waiting on some quotes to get the cushions re- upholstered. Any suggestions for colour on cushions are welcome! Once again I’m torn between black and white!
I cleaned the chair with sugar soap before using the ozito detail sander with 80 grit sandpaper to gently sand the chair back. I then cleaned the chair again with methylated spirits.
I spray painted the chair using Rusteloum in the Flat Black colour.
I Had to put a few slats on the seat of the chair and will add a few more (didn’t buy enough wood) I have attached photos of the above steps and the chair in the area it will go. It currently has the original cushions on it but like I mentioned before, I’m getting those re-upholstered. The chair will also get a second coat eventually! There is another identical chair that I will do the same thing to. My next project will be to make a small table to go with the chairs.
Thanks to all that helped out. The replies really gave me the confidence to go ahead.

@EricL @tom_builds @LizzieCro @Jason

StevieB

Well done @Diy_Shell. You've done a fantastic job and the chair looks lovely. What made you decide to go with black instead of Blossom White?

The contrast of white cushions could look great, but I'd suggest going with black. I have a white couch and everything shows up on it and makes it look grubby quickly. Choosing black will mean it'll look chic for longer.

Please keep us updated on what you decide and how it turns out.

Stevie

tom_builds

Awesome work @Diy_Shell !

The chair looks great, and thanks for sharing the photos of the whole process and the finished product, it's great to be able to share in other people's projects.

I agree with @StevieB that white cushions will be hard to keep white, perhaps another option would be a darkish grey, this will give a little bit of contrast with the black while keeping the same tone. Otherwise the black frame would complement nearly any colour should you want to add a splash of brightness to your room.

Thanks for sharing!

LizzieCro

Wow! How good does the black look!? Well done! Personally I would go with a patterned fabric. This will depend entirely on how much use your chair will get. If it's in a room which gets casual use, then , yes, you could use something lighter-coloured. If however it will be in the main TV area (for instance), then use a darker patterned fabric, or at least have removable covers so you can wash them. Think about the overall decor in the room. Is there any main colour in that room? Try and pick up that colour in the fabric, which will give the room a continuity, and make it all look intentional. All that aside, these chairs suggest, to me, something with green in them, which would contrast beautifully against the black.

Good luck! I hope you're having fun!

StevieB

Fantastic suggestions @LizzieCro. Thanks for jumping in and contributing to this discussion.

Stevie

Diy_Shell

Thanks @StevieB

I’m definitely leaning towards a black material or at least something dark. I have been in touch with an upholsterer but it’s difficult getting things done with lockdown restrictions!! I will keep you updated.

Diy_Shell

Thanks @tom_builds ! I’m definitely leaning towards a dark fabric. Adds to the drama of the black! Will keep you updated when I can finally get the cushions done!

Diy_Shell

Thank you @LizzieCro I absolutely love the black. I have really considered a patterned fabric and will definitely stick with a darker colour. It is in a busy are so will be getting a lot of use. I can’t wait to get the cushions done now. Will keep you updated!

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