10.01.2012

Unplanned Green and White Dining Room Chairs

I’m beginning to think that planning is overrated.

At least, it’s overrated when you are a novice planner who is largely accustomed to winging it. My original plan for our dining room chairs, after all, did not involve pure white with green and white seats.

DSC_1061

To be fair, my deviance with the chairs occurred not because I am capricious and picky but, rather, because the fabric I had initially selected just didn’t work. The scale on the one was too large for the chairs and the fabric intended for the curtains was practically neon. Both options looked way more promising on the computer screen than in real life.

fabric fail

It was sort of like those pants that are lovely on a hanger, and then you put them on, and all you can think is that you’re wearing your great-aunt’s bed sheet that some well-intentioned but visually-impaired Girl Scout turned into trousers, using a penguin as their model.

But I digress.

After shipping the rejects back to Fabric.com (for free—seriously, it’s the best feature ever of online shopping) I settled on Dwell Studio Bella Porte in Watercress. Reupholstering the seats meant first wading through layers upon layers of previous fabric, each one grimier than the last. Note to self: Scotchguard seats ASAP.

DSC_0878

The new non-grimy fabric scored major points in the kitty department. It was so nice of us to provide them with their own personal pillows.

DSC_0953

zoe

As for the chairs themselves, I used white Rustoleum 2X spray paint after spray priming them. It cost more than hand-painting, but the finish is so much smoother and it didn’t take as long. At least, it wouldn’t have taken as long if I had finished the chairs at an approximate speed greater than 0.75/week.

shield back chair makeover

And confession time: only 6 of the 8 are actually done. We are limiting our dinner guests until I pluck up the motivation to finish off the last two. And confession time again: The word ‘pluck’ grosses me out. Why did I just use it?

white dining room chairs

Our dining room is finally growing up. Sniffle.

Whaddya think? Any other sites you know of that offer free return shipping? Who wants to come over for dinner? Space is limited, so book soon.

***Linking this up to Primitive & Proper!***

28 comments :

  1. Love the fresh look of the chairs! Your kitties have good taste.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Woah, they look great!! And way to go with the lines in the fabric being straight - I would have made them all crooked. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The fabric is great, but I just love painted white chairs. It's so fresh! I also think the style of your chairs stand out more in white.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Haha I'm dying at your "pluck" comment. I love them! Green is always a charmer, and the white is so bright and cheery.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOVE them! The look so pretty and modern!

    ReplyDelete
  6. They look great!

    And planning and motivation are overrated.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh me! Pick me! I want to come over and eat in your grown up dining room and stay in the bra guest room. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love them! They look so clean and fresh. I think you non-plan worked out great!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'll be right over! :)

    And those chairs are gorg! I love the green and white paired together. I'm also a little nervous that you spray painted your chairs vs. hand painting them. I hand painted our dining room chairs and they almost.killed.me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Phew. There appears to be dinner spots left. I was afraid I was commenting too late. Save me a pretty chair!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Save me a spot - but I'll totally take the old wooden chairs, so I can have more pretty white and green ones to look at. I'm crazy about that fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love the chairs - and I love that the cat approves :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. green + white = gorgeous seating! (However, I'm still cringing at the nasty layers of grimy ancient previous upholstery...)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well despite however many snags and hold ups you ran into the end result of these chairs is FABULOUS! Great job!

    I'd like to make a reservation for two, or if you only have room for one I'll leave the husband behind ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the new fabric; it looks great with the white!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Eight is too many to cook for anyways......but you can add me to your dinner party list anytime. My butt needs to sit on nicer chairs than the 50 year old leather seats at my house. Which my husband won't let me change "cause they're vintage and you like everything vintage".

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10/02/2012

    Wowzzer! Totally love these white chairs with the green and white fabric......and pluck is not such a bad word. -Angela @ Mrs. White Twig & Tea

    ReplyDelete
  18. ValenzMom10/02/2012

    I love those chairs! I have a "thing" for chairs anyway and I totally love your shield-back style chairs, too. I snagged a couple a few years ago that I sanded and spray painted gold, then recovered the seats in a beautiful two-toned red striped fabric. I'd still have them, but a friend loved them so much that she kept wanting to buy them from me. They had cost me a little over $40 total (chairs + fabric + paint) and I sold the pair to her for $50.

    ReplyDelete
  19. i don't make plans... i can't keep them. i just keep on rolling with it. :) love the chair seats!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Erin! They are awesome! The shape says "sophisticated", but the fabric says "fun". A good combo for a dining room.

    ReplyDelete
  21. What an incredibly transformation. Glad the other fabrics didn't work out because this one looks AMAZING.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10/03/2012

    Oh man! I love that green fabric! And, weird enough, I have a friend who just refinished her dining room chairs and upholstered the seats with the same fabric!!! Great minds think alike, I guess. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love how they turned out! I like when plans go awry and you end up with something even better!

    ReplyDelete
  24. These turned out so well. I lie the white against the green. And I'm sort of obsessed with that fabric I have the yellow color in my dining room and the blue in Henry's room. Green may be next.

    ReplyDelete
  25. These look so awesome! I love the white chair against the green print.

    Catching up on your blog. Looks like lots of rooms are growing up! Congrats! So much work!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from my readers, so don't be shy. :) Thanks for being here!

Want to read more?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...