Modern Flair Vintage Chair Makeover

Project:  Modern Flair Vintage Chair Makeover

Painted by:  Tracy Rogers, Black Dog Products, California

Paint Recipe: Field Mustard = 1 part Patinio Greenio + 1 part Baby I’m Amaized

Top Coat: Show Dog Topcoat, Matte

Seat Cover: Joann Fabrics

Cotton Canvas Print: “I’m-Peck-Able Harvest”

Purchase Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint here

From Tracy:

I found this little wooden MCM chair for sale on Craigslist for $25. It looked a little rough and the price was more than I would usually expect to pay for something that sad, but it had good bones and no structural repairs were needed, so I went for it.

After a good cleaning, I was ready to start the transformation process.

The paint was old & rough-textured and I thought I could just sand it off but that didn’t work. For a shabby piece, a little paint build-up or cakey-ness can be a good thing, but for a modern piece, the surface has to be perfectly clean and smooth. The main problem area was the little wooden rods in the seatback. The paint had built up all around them and with the tight space and lack of leverage, sanding alone wasn’t getting it.

So, stripper time. Fortunately, for a piece this size with mostly clean lines, the process didn’t take too long. Most of the paint came off easily with the first application and I used steel wool around the rods to completely remove all remaining build up. I wiped it down thoroughly with mineral spirits then finished it off with another cleaning and sanding.

Once down to the bare wood, I realized that this simple chair with the bad outfit was actually a beautifully crafted piece from top to bottom. At this point, my $25 spend seemed like a deal.

Now, I just had to decide on a color that would work well with the fabric I had chosen to recover the seat. I consulted with Black Dog Salvage’s paint and color expert, Swooz Hudson and together we landed on Field Mustard, one of our Paint Recipe colors.  Field Mustard is a mix of one part each of Patinio Greenio and Baby I’m Amaized and the result is a warm & citrus-y yellow green color ideal for a retro piece like the chair. I applied two coats of Field Mustard followed by three coats of Matte finish Show Dog Topcoat.

For the final step I had to recover the seat which had been haphazardly covered with an old vintage curtain. Underneath that fabric, I discovered two more previous covers, plus some very old, flattened cotton padding. After removing all of that garbage, I cut a new foam seat pad and covered that with a layer of batting. Finally, I attached a cute cotton canvas print cover from Joann using a staple gun and then trimmed the edges. Super easy.

In the end, this makeover may have been little more labor intensive than initially anticipated, but I think the results were worth it. Just goes to show that even small pieces can pack a punch when color and design come together!

PAINT DESCRIPTION
Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint is a water-based, low VOC, matte finish paint originally developed for our custom design shop. Our goal was to create a safe and easy-to-use paint that is customizable for our, and now your, furniture projects. Made in small batches in the USA, our paint line includes 16 pre-mixed colors, including a true black and white, affording you the ability to mix custom tints and shades. There is no limit to the colors you can create. Black Dog Furniture Paint dries to a velvety, matte finish and can be used on a multitude of surfaces, including glass, metal, wood, and ceramics. Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint can be applied over paint, varnish, lacquer, or poly. Apply the paint to a clean surface using either the brush of your choice or a paint sprayer. Easily create distressed effects, washes, or bright, bold, contemporary finishes with our expandable palette.

FINISH YOUR PIECE WITH ONE OF OUR TOP COATS
When your project is completed, don’t forget to protect it with one of our topcoats. Guard Dog and Show Dog are water-based, interior Poly/Acrylic topcoats designed as durable final finishes for Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint. Both topcoats can be applied by brush or sprayer, build quickly, and are self-leveling. We recommend Show Dog for use over white and pastel and colors as it will not amber. Both Guard Dog and Show Dog are available in matte and satin sheens.

ABOUT BLACK DOG SALVAGE
Established in 1999, Black Dog Salvage is a prominent architectural salvage company based in Roanoke, Virginia, and is the home of the DIY Network television show, Salvage Dawgs. Specializing in saving valuable architectural pieces of history from the landfill, the main retail showroom and nearby receiving warehouse are filled with architectural antiques, home furnishings, regional art, and custom designs. Extensions of the Black Dog Brand include Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint, The Stone House at Black Dog Salvage, and The Dog Bowl at Black Dog Salvage.

ABOUT SALVAGE DAWGS
Salvage Dawgs chronicles the adventures and creativity of Black Dog Architectural Salvage, a Roanoke, Virginia-based architectural salvage business established in 1999. Praised for the humorous, family-friendly banter amongst the team, a suspenseful approach to presenting the salvage process and useful information about how to reuse the items they find, Salvage Dawgs has proven to be an engaging and entertaining television show that the whole family can enjoy.  Owned by Discovery Inc., all eleven seasons and 143 episodes are available via streaming and on demand.

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