Oh Yeah ! I forgot my Bergere Chairs !

Too much going on - really - just. too. much.

I'm working on one thing - and then move on to another before finishing - so I have a house full of half done projects ( including the house itself )

While I was pulling out the dining room chairs to repaint - ( a room I NEVER go into because it hasn't been touched in this year of reno's and it quite literally makes me sick to see it ) I noticed my sad Bergere chairs sitting in the corner ..............

You can see the post ( with some beauties ) HERE

John was horrified that I would even consider these..............and I seem to recall him laughing his head off when he came home with them..................because really he only saw this

While I only saw this - the same chair - with a little work done to it !

The last photo I showed way back in September was this one

Because that was all that had been painted - once I wrote up the post I guess I quickly shoved them into the hell hole ( that's the official name of the dining room in it's current state )  and forgot all about them !

So yesterday I promptly stopped painting the dining room chairs ( and I'll probably forget about them too LOL )  You can see the before and after's of these HERE

and started resumed working on these................because that's the way I roll.

I knew I was painting the fabric from the get go - because a quote from the reupholsterer was in the 400.00 range - PER CHAIR - and that was just not happening  ( maybe down the road when reno's are finished - perhaps a beautiful linen would be nice - but there's no way I can justify spending that now- that's a set of French doors for the dining room ! )
Which is where I'd like to put these chairs eventually - flanking each side of French doors..............

So - ok - here we go -

Most of you know how to do this by now - but for those of you that don't - first and foremost you must dampen your fabric -
Some use a spritz bottle of water as they go - ( which is smart )  I just use a damp rag and wet the fabric that way ( which is lazy ) both ways work.
Dampening the fabric allows for the paint to work almost like a DYE -
Those of you that question paint's adherence to fabric - have you every tried to get it off clothing it's spilled on?  Impossible!

I also use ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT ™ - ( believe it or not many years ago I painted a leather chair using latex paint and it held up beautifully ) but now as you know I mostly use chalk paint for everything.

Step 1 - I watered the paint to a milky consistency and applied it to the fabric.
Step 2 - I lightly sanded the surfaces that had just been painted - removing the " stiffness "
Step 3 - I put a second coat - watering it to a gravy consistancy.
Step 4 - I sanded
Step 5 - I slapped another coat of the gravy on........................

The most difficult part of this chair transformation was the upholstered arms - HOLY SHIZ, I can't tell you how much I hate removing old fabric from chairs................and how hard these particular ones were.
At one point I was going to try to paint the ripped fabric and leave it as a deconstructed look lol ( which I actually like ) but I persevered instead.

This is what I used to do the job.

The most important item being the polysporin because I now have a pinky finger that has been rendered useless - and a middle finger that's wrapped in 10 bandages to stop the bleeding.

The pain of a screw driver plunging in to your finger while using all your strength is worse than delivering a baby.
I thought about that long and hard - and I stand by it.
We forget the pain of giving birth -  I was in labor for 8 hours with the twins - and if someone had shoved a screwdriver into my bones for 8 hours I would have never forgotten it.

John was out when I was working on this chair - and it struck me that I didn't scream.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around........................
I know for a fact that if he'd been home I'd have let out a scream - isn't that strange?
And then I'd say - No, no, I'm ok - and press my finger so the blood would splatter all over his feet.
Actress?
Why yes, yes I am
But I could never match the yell John would have let out - never 

The beautiful details ( and it's all in the details, right? ) which didn't really show at all in it's original state - pop ( I hate that word with decor but I can't think of another to use right now ) and besides - they really DO pop

I think I'll dab a little silver on the " relief " for a little something - something

Level of difficulty?
Pffft - trust me, if I can do it, anyone can - all you need is patience.
And polysporin.............

THIS chair was a lot more work because I reupholstered it - painting's a breeze compared to that
( hmmm - how many chair makeover's can I fit in one post? )  But it's still one of my favorites :)

Back to the Bergere - all that's left is to wax it - but here she is
Marie Anoinette !
I'm just going to bombard you with photos now..............
As you can see I didn't bother with replacing the fabric on the arms - I'm fine with it for now - if it bothers me at some point in the future, it's quite an easy fix.

( and I forgot to mention - those little nails you dig out from the reupholstering - make sure you get every single one of them up before sitting on the floor to take photos - they also hurt )

Did I mention I painted the back fabric with Paris Grey?

Or that I paid 50.00 each for these chairs - a steal for such a well made - well designed chair ( and they don't come by often here in Montreal especially as a set )

There's still another one to do - I think I'll forget about that one for another 5 months LOL

 Maybe not quite as drastic a change as some face lifts

but awfully close, don't you think?
( no insult intended here because I happen to believe in face lifts ! Go Goldie ! )

This post is Marie Antoinette approved.

SOURCE

If I wasn't so busy painting chairs - I'd maybe be able to sit by the fire -
In my Bergere
With a good book.

The magic of paint..............

Have a great one everybody!

Hugs,
Me
( the Chairperson of Simply Vintageous )
I finally have a title





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Well excuse me........................

But I think you've painted my chair .........................

I wanted something Spring/Summer like - because I've definitely got a bad case of winter doldrums
And so I went with this fabric which I ordered on line.

Most of you liked it - some of you didn't -  John HATED it - while I secretly fretted over it not being what I imagined - it's hard to order things on line and get an accurate perspective of what it'll look like in person.

I told myself that if it didn't look good on the chairs I'd use it somehow in the blue guest room - but I really had a vision in my head

I saw a white French Provincial Dining Set in a Paris Apartment once - with bright colorful chairs - and it got filed away in my brain for  " some day "

It took it's time getting here but " some day " finally arrived !

Ooops - sorry - the fabric isn't stapled in the above photo !

I distressed the edges a little - so that it didn't look quite so pristine

Another thing I worried about was that I just eyeballed the measurements - ( who does that ?  really, there's something wrong with me I know )
But luckily I have just enough for 6 chairs - and I do mean JUST enough !

Here it is all stapled - nice and neat

Most of you that follow know by now that I'm a black and white and grey kind of person - I love color in other's homes - but have never been one to apply it in my own - so I don't quite understand why I'm almost giddy over these - but I am !
Doesn't it look like the happiest dining room chair?

They even make John happy !
Well he's not dancing around with glee or anything - but he actually said last night that he really liked them - and that's GOLD coming from him.

Suzan says - We'll paint the dining room completely white - and these will be the feature !
John says - I'm not sure about that
Suzan says - You're never sure about anything until you see it - you hated this fabric until it was on the chairs.
John says - I haven't made my mind up about keeping this set...............

Ok - we'll let him think I'm selling it -
But I'm not.
I can't.
I'm too in love.

I finished one of the arm chairs as well

I primed them first ( because of fear of tannin coming through AND to save money on paint )
By doing that, it only took 2 coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Pure White

The dining room ( or the office for that matter ) have not been touched yet - it's sealed off so that I don't have to look at it - but here's the seller's photo

Dear God ..............really, just Dear God

I don't even know where to begin - there's panelling and wall paper to come off ( including on the ceiling ) and those horrible heater covers and the color of the floor and and and ............
I'm sure it was lovely in it's hey day - but hey - that day has long since sailed.
We need to change the windows - and put in French doors to the garden - maybe add a window seat - this is going to be a lot of work.
But I know what's going in there when it's finished !

Ok there's only so much I can say about a chair LOL !!!

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone
I'll be painting a few more of them today -
And then a table
And then a buffet/hutch
And maybe, just maybe, a chandelier !

I've got sunshine ( on a cloudy day )
When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May......................

This is a 2 song post

Hugs,

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A DIY Faux Marble Mantel

I LOVE marble -

And....................I wanted a slab of marble for the faux fire place we built for the bedroom.

You know, that cheap frugal DIY one we built?
So I decided a cheap frugal DIY marble mantel would fit perfectly !

We bought a length of wood for 12.00 - had it cut to fit the mantel ( and unbelievably enough there was exactly - to the tee - to make another mantel for the living room gas fireplace - which I'll age and stain )
It's a nice thick chunk - perfect for this project !

I gave it a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - Pure White - and then mixed a little Paris Grey with Graphite to create the " veins ": and simple painted them on the white - feathering some so that it was thicker in some areas
( with 2 different sizes of artist brushes - one pointy edge - and one flat edge )

The next photos are before I put polyurethane on it ..................but you can see it on the fireplace at least !

I don't have a tutorial because I was in such a hurry to get it done that I didn't stop to take photos - but if the truth be known it would be difficult to show through photos anyway - you'd kind of need a video I think.
( of which there are probably a million of them out there with far superior results !!! )

I just made my " veins " and brushed them out in places and left them in tact in others - the only important thing to remember when doing this is to bring your veins down onto the front and sides of your slabs for authenticity......................

Another mantel to decorate !  ( this was just thrown together to show you the finished product- the only thing I know that's staying is that wreath from Target ( 25.00 if anyone's interested ! )

And that's my final DIY project for 2014 lol !

Have a wonderful day everyone - I'm off to buy another one of these wreaths - I'm in love !

Oh and that perfect deer?
10.00 ( again Target )
You can see the tutorial for the actual fireplace HERE

Much love,
Me

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