Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Barstools (Round 2!)


BEFORE:

AFTER:

I finally got around to stenciling the Target barstools!  I have been using them since the first of the year and have not seen any major defects in the quality of the chairs so I felt they were worthy of my time to stencil them.  I missed this look so I'm happy to have it back again!
(don't know what I'm talking about?
You can "catch up" by clicking here then just scroll down for all the info.  There is 2 pages, so also click "Older Posts" at the bottom if you want to see it all!)




I have now done 5 different stencils on chairs and I think this one is still my favorite, partly because it is the easiest one of all the stencils I have done!  It only took 3 hrs to do all three chairs.  My recommendation (if you are attempting this project)- is to pick a similar stencil pattern to this one that requires VERY little paint and most of your chair background will show through.  It is SO much EASIER!



I did end up doing just one very light coat of the Acrylic Finisher to protect the paint job and we'll see if that works better than 4 heavy coats - which is what I did on my first set of barstools and it ended up looking like crap! (see here).

***UPDATE:  The one light coat of Acrylic Finisher has not had the problem of peeling off and looking terrible like it did on my first attempt, so that is good.  However I wonder if it is doing any good at all.  My barstools obviously get a little dirty from use and so I wipe them do every now and again and the paint is starting to rub off slightly (very slightly) on the seat.  It doesn't look bad and really isn't noticeable to anyone so it doesn't bother me.  Plus I figure it would be a very easy touch if I ever wanted to do that.  On my first set of barstools I didn't have this problem but that could have just been because they were different barstools made out of a different material?.  I don't know- but again it makes me wonder if the one light coat of acrylic finisher is doing anything at all.  My advice for anyone else trying this project is -I think I wouldn't bother with the finisher.  My sister's barstools don't have any finisher on them and they have held up great.  My other piece of advice is LIGHTLY sand the chairs before painting them, I went a little too heavy with the sanding this go around and I kinda left marks on the leather in some areas :(
But overall I would still call the project a success and I still recommend other people trying it!


Once again if you are interested in doing this project and you want all the juicy little details- you better click HERE (then scroll down and click "Older Posts") for all my painted leather barstool posts.  I didn't go into much detail on how to stencil these barstools because the process on stenciling these stools was the exact same as what I have already done (and written about) before - so check out those posts (remember to scroll down and click "Older Posts").

4 comments:

  1. Hi Amy! I've been drooling over your bar stools and I think I am going to attempt something on the seats of my chairs soon. My question to you is how is the thin layer of acrylic finish holding up? Do you think it makes a difference in protecting the stencil? Do you think it is needed? Your thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks so much!

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  2. We have that exact same hutch on the right! We added chalk board paint to the front flat part . Love the kitchen!

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