Work on the eighties cane back
chairs has been slow and steady. First thing was to remove the brass
casters from the bottom of the legs. I was a little worried that the
chairs without the casters would sit too low, but after removing them I think
the chair height is fine. I added a small pad to the bottom of the leg
and some batting on the seat, making up for some of the missing height.
On to the fun stuff. I
rubbed the chairs with mineral spirits and sanded a bit to remove the high
gloss finish - these chairs had so much gloss they would have stayed shiny for
another three decades. I then applied two coats of Amy Howard's chalk
paint, distressed and added my favorite glaze (This small jar is all I have
left and I will be hard pressed to remember what paints went into its making! A
problem for another day)
I decided not to paint the cane
because it was in such good shape and I kind of liked the contrast with the
gray. The legs still have that bamboo look that I don't like but the
paint and distressing makes it less noticeable. I went back and forth on
the fabric for the seat cover and ended up with some white fabric I picked up
for $10. I love a simple white fabric but I cringe a little about all the
small dirty hands roaming my house. I have enough fabric to recover one
chair so that should last me a little while.
