before + after: dining room chairs

well, it happened. i finally got the supplies and painted two of our dining room chairs!

here are the chairs before priming and painting. of course i had to take the worst picture in the worst possible location.

chairs after priming (please note that gorgeous linoleum we have. also, you can faintly see in this picture the random wood-grain patch under the drop cloth and paint can)

finished chair!

the process was pretty easy - i wiped the chairs with a damp cloth, used fine grit sandpaper, wiped down again, primed and then painted several coats of red (two full coats and a third touch up). i ended up using a latex semi-gloss though i originally wanted an oil-based high-gloss because it's more durable and cures faster (so i've read). however, the oil-based only came in set colors (and i didn't really want stop-sign red), so i was willing to give up on the oil-based and high-gloss finish to get the paint color i wanted.

this gives you a great shot of the rotting wood that is bee infested. they were pretty quiet and out of the way when i was taking these picturse, so that was nice.

when i finish up the other four chairs here's what i'll do differently:

1. focus more on the priming and allow more time to dry between prime coat and final paint. there were some parts of the chairs that did not cover well with the primer and those parts covered worse with the red paint. also, i think that the hour i left to dry in between priming and painting wasn't enough, as it seemed like some of the prime coat came off when i was painting with the red.
2. sand more. i think i'll focus more on sanding the legs and the back in hopes that it will help with the primer situation described above.
3. do all steps in the basement. i did the priming and first coat in our kitchen. although it was nice doing it with the doors open, it was easier after i put them downstairs and had lots of room to spread out my drop cloth. especially when i do the four remaining chairs, having the extra room will be great!
4. get a smaller or foam brush. although my brush is nice, it was more of a medium size and was hard to do the legs and the spindles on the back. i think that the foam or smaller brush would help with primer coverage as well. also, with a second brush, i will be able to enlist the hubby's help!!

check out that amazing tomato-herb plant we have growing!

i'm hoping to do the other four chairs this weekend and maybe start on the table. the table will be in white and possibly with an oil based paint.