Monday 7 January 2013

Restored chair - Oooooh or Eeeeeww?

Who knew that settling upon a chair colour would be so difficult?  In true indecisive fashion, I grabbed a swag of test pots and then left them sitting in the bag for a few weeks.

I went with my original shortlist and applied the paint colours onto a board, waited to see how they would look in natural light, artificial light and up against the other main colour in the room (which is white) - and then decided against all of them.  Luckily for me, my husband has access to testpots through his line of work otherwise the ol' wallet might have been feeling a bit ouchy.


Since I was wavering between my first pick, Half Kumutoto and a lighter aqua called Reservoir, I did what any true professional would do and asked my children what colour they liked.  They all picked Reservoir.  When I painted it on my test board, it looked to be the perfect colour.

I cannot believe that after all that, I still managed to get the colour wrong.  Incredibly wrong.  $30 wrong.  I painted the first coat with half a hope that it would dry darker and become that nice shade from the testpot.  Not to be.  The chair is mint green.  Or Peppermint.  Or Ugly.  Take your pick.  Now my little project has become a salvage operation to help it tie in to its surroundings.


The paint finish is a semi-gloss, which is probably the only saving grace as it has given the chair a really nice sheen, and gives definition to the details on the chair back and seat, which is what I had hoped for.


The chair was originally intended to be used in a part of the house that is a bit of a blank canvas at the moment.  Now, I'm not so sure about it.  I cannot show you the space yet as it is a future project that I plan to blog about.   This is my red bag giving the chair a few lessons on how to look cool just by hanging out on a door handle.


Until I find a better place for it, the chair can sit in my room for now and look after some cushions for me.

10 comments:

  1. I think it looks really cute with the cushions on it!

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    1. Thanks Leonie, the cushions normally hang out in my 3 year old's room but I discovered that the aqua in the striped cushion is an exact match with the chair so that was a bit of a happy accident.

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  2. I love it!!! Especially with those cute cushions :-)

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    1. Oh, Stella, you make me blush. I made these cushions; they are very mismatched, but I cannot resist vintage children's prints. Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. I agree with Leonie and Stella, it looks great, especially with the cushions!
    If it makes you feel any better, I've made quite a few blunders choosing paint colours, so I definitely know the feeling :-(

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    1. Thanks Juliet, your comment actually does help. I'm not going to let it put me off future furniture restoration projects though. Plus, there's nearly a whole tin of Reservoir paint that needs to be used up and I'm not one for wasting things...:).

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  4. I love it with the cushions too Leanne! I know about paint - our room has been painted the wrong shade of duck egg blue for about 7 years now! Too much effort to change it. Luckily like you I have access to cheap (free because Dad never charges me!) paint through Dad!

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    1. I can come help paint, I love to paint! Just don't get me to choose the colour.

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  5. Sometimes it's the process that is the fun though. no?

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    1. I like your glass half full attitude, Sus. I did enjoy the prep work involved to get this chair ready to be painted. Maybe the paint colour will grow on me.

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