Buffalo Check & Dixie Belle Paint

9/14/2017

I got this chair at an online auction. When I picked it up, my first thought was to stain the wood black. The wood grain was so pronounced and beautiful! However, before I had the time to work on the chair, I received paint from Dixie Belle Paints and I just couldn't wait to try it out. I had a lot of fun with this chair! Come follow me on my adventure!

Naturally, I cleaned the chair very thoroughly before beginning its transformation. I always use a vinegar and water mixture and then follow that up with clean fresh water and cloth. I don't know if that really matters or not but the one or two times I skipped the rinse in the past, the paint didn't seem to stick quite as good so now I always rinse.

Using my new Cling On brush that I had just purchased, and having shook the jar of Dixie Belle Paint really well, I was ready to paint. Just look at that amazing coverage in ONE COAT!

Next, I played around with Dixie Belle black glaze in a couple spots on the front. Then, I tried out another brand of liquid wax in black that I had on hand on the back of the chair. They created two completely different looks that were each neat but not the look I wanted for this chair. I was just having fun, anyway. No worries.

Since my original vision was a black chair, I decided to paint black right over the grey. Again, I could have stopped with one coat but I had applied it so thinly and the wood grain was kinda like little craters so I did do a second coat just to get the paint in those little craters. This stuff is so amazing! I would describe this paint as marshmallow fluff with cream mixed in. It is so fun to paint with. And it self-levels! Yes, you read that right. Check out the pictures! Completely smooth paint and I even got to keep the wood grain look that I had wanted!

I decided to distress the edges a little bit to let that grey first coat show. I thought the style of the chair just demanded it. I knew I had nothing to lose because this paint is just so easy. I lightly distressed all the edges.

It seemed to mark the black finish a little bit where I didn't want it to but when I wiped it down with a damp cloth, it took care of that just fine. You can see in the picture above what I mean by the streaking of the black areas after I sanded. I didn't do anything more than wipe it down with a damp cloth though and just wait until you see the final pictures!!

I let the painted chair sit for the weekend and then I gave it a coat of Dixie Belle Gator Hide. Dixie Belle paint is an all-in-one paint and does not require a top coat. However, it is a very matte finish and I was worried that it would mark too easily so I wanted to eliminate that. I used my Cling On brush to apply that first coat. But then while I had the Gator Hide out a few hours later coating my table top using Dixie Belle's blue sponge applicator, I used the applicator on the chair for a quick second coat just because the sponge was already wet with it. That second coat really made the chair gleam and I love it!

Then, it was time to do something with the cushion. My plan was to upholster it leaving the cushion attached and just get some upholstery decorative tacks to attach the fabric all around the edges (my smart mama's idea!) so while I was painting with the grey, I painted the cushion, too, just to see how that would look. As you see, that one coat covered the cushion really well. If the cushion hadn't of been worn bad on one edge, I may have just gone with painting the cushion. But, then I really did have my heart set on using my leftover black & white buffalo check fabric. So, I turned the chair upside down and began pounding with my hammer to see if I could pop it out because there were no screws to be seen anywhere. Yay, it worked! That thing popped off rather easily! I really should have done that from the start because then I wouldn't have had to do some touchups around where the cushion went. Oh well. Its not like painting is a hard thing. LOL

I used a piece of a clean old off-white flannel sheet and wrapped and stapled that over the cushion first. Then, I wrapped and stapled the buffalo check fabric. Having done 4 chairs and a bench (mostly with Mom's help) a month or so ago, this was a breeze to do. Then, after two coats of Scotch Guard spray, the cushion was ready to put back on. But how? I really have no idea how that cushion was put on in the first place. There were little nails from the cushion down into the chair with nothing showing on the underneath and of course nothing poking up through the cushion. Magic, I say! LOL. So, my practicality kicked in and I drilled small pilot holes in each side of each corner of the hole in the chair and then using a bigger drill bit (the size of the screw heads I wanted to use), I drilled down each hole on the underside just enough to countersink the screws. I tried to screw the cushion on by myself but of course that didn't work because another set of hands was absolutely necessary. I got my extra set of hands when my husband got home from work. :) Ta da! Chair completed and ready to go!

Although this post is sponsored by Dixie Belle Paint Company who provided me with their products, all opinions are completely my own. They are an amazing company with amazing products! They also carry Cling On Brushes, but I had already bought mine elsewhere. I highly recommend the Cling On Brushes! They give such a smooth coat and are so easy to clean and take care of. You just stick the bristles in a cup of water and the product just slides off the bristles and sinks to the bottom of the cup! It cleans itself! You store it in water, too. It keeps the bristles soft and ready to go.

Here is a list of the products that I used. The black is brand new out, just released this week, so is not showing on their website store just yet but it will be by October 1rst. Click on the pictures to be taken to their website. I am very proud to be an affiliate with Dixie Belle Paint Company and if you order through my links, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support in advance. :)