DIY: Bentwood babes (chairs) are given a quirky vintage marshmellow makeover

before

after

I scored these awesome Bentwood chairs from an Auction last year and I finally got the motivation to restore them for a Vintage Wedding photo shoot. (More about the shoot in coming weeks).

Unfortunately due to the horrible whether at the outdoor auction, the wood under the cushion got water damaged so I had to throw that part away and I replaced them with some ply wood that we cut our selves.

Below I will show you what I did to bring them back to life with a Quirky marshmallow touch!!! Enjoy the process and have a go at reinventing your own chairs.

old cushions

wooden seat and cushion removed as water damaged

sand off most of the black paint to expose the nice timber. Having some black paint left on the chair is nice, as it will add to the aged effect. (WARNING!!!! always wear a dusk mask and protective eye wear to prevent the horrible particles getting in your lungs and eyes!!)

using a water based furniture paint, give the chair at least two coats (follow paint instructions for drying times)

It's now time to distress the chairs to give them a old vintage feel.  This is my favourite part!!!

Once the paint has dried, using a sander (I use a little mouse sander as it is so much easier then by hand, but you can do by hand), take off small sections of paint to expose the gorgeous timber underneath.

Sand the paint off where the most natural damage would occur to a chair that has been used for 50 years

try to make each chair different to add to the illusion.  I love how the black paint is coming through also as this adds to the aged effect!

yummy marshmallows

It's time to cut the new bases for the seat!!  I am lucky/blessed/I scored for sure, to have a handsome/ sexy/adorable/handy man around to help with the not so girly jobs. Ross is cutting the circles out of ply wood using a jigsaw.  By the way I can do this job, but I was painting at the time:) girl power!!

We drew around the seat we removed with pencil to get the circle size.

after cutting out one circle make sure it fits perfectly and then use it to draw the rest of the circles onto the ply. Sand the ply.

paint the ply in the original colour (black) so that it fits in with the chair. If you don't paint it then the seat will look like a fake!!

once the undercoat is dry add two coasts of the colour to the seat

seats painted

now distress them to match the rest of the seat and add to the aged vintage effect. 

take the paint off where a persons bottom would sit and around the edges where it would get damaged

distressing seat

my marshmallows are finished

Vintage Wedding shoot at the Blue Ridge Lavender Farm. Styling and Prop Hire by Quirky Comforts and Little Vintage Days. Cake by Cake Girl. Flowers by More than just flowers  Candles and straws by The Spring Shop  Paper ware by Janet Kwong

Send me your chair makeovers so I can share them with the world!!

Cheers Banana ears (no you don''t have banana ears!)

Leis