This chair sat in my garden shed for nearly four years while I waited for inspiration; it came in the form of a stencil. If I’m honest, I underestimated this piece. It wasn’t until I started prep work that I realized it’s made of solid birch and is a quality piece of furniture. It quickly took precedence over the piece I was already working on, and I’m thrilled with how it turned out. I had one mishap along the way; read on to see the mistake I won’t make again!
Materials used: Zinsser shellac-base primer, Rust-Oleum semi-gloss protective enamel, Show-Offs stencil, Anita’s acrylic craft paint, Varathane oil-based polyurethane in satin finish.
When I went to clean this chair I discovered a label under the seat. A bit of internet research quickly revealed that the chair was made in Canada by AP Industries, Inc. who “made quality case goods out of solid birch”. It was then that I decided to sand the seat back to bare wood to showcase some of the birch.
Once the chair had been cleaned and sanded, I masked off the seat and primed the frame. I chose a shellac-base primer because it will block any residual color better.
Now it was time to apply my inspiration: a faux cane stencil by Show-Offs. There are no bridges in the stencil; it is attached to a fine silk mesh that the paint can penetrate. After sealing the bare wood with a couple of coats of polyurethane (1) I was ready to start. At this point I made the mistake of trying to spray-paint the frame and stencil at the same time. The first application went well, but after cleaning the stencil with mineral spirits, it no longer stuck properly and the spray paint bled (2). I had to sand the seat back to bare wood and start again with a new stencil and acrylic craft paint that I applied with a sponge brush — much better (3). When the pattern was complete, I finished with three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane (4).
To finish the project I masked the completed seat and applied a couple more coats of semi-gloss enamel to the frame.
Transforming Trash 