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A badly worn accent chair glued back into shape, fitted with woven cane and given a distressed white finish.
The project
I love distressed furniture, and in most of my upcycles, it’s the type of finish I aim for as it makes a piece look well-loved and lived in. Distressed furniture looks great in many different settings, whether you love a coastal vibe, country, French Provincial or modern, a distressed piece can add a tonne of personality to your room.
Being someone who loves to add a little charm to a new exterior, distressing your furniture is a great way to achieve this look, so I thought I’d share my tips to achieve this look using a recent chair I upcycled using Dulux Duramax® chalk paint. And as it’s spray paint, there’s no brushes to clean up, so it’s a win-win in my book.
The final step is to add the cane. I don’t think I have a future in weaving but I’m so glad that I had a go. Once I started using Vaseline it made life so much easier. The weaving process took a really long time, although it’s really repetitive. I don’t think it’s overly difficult but what is difficult is getting it even, and once the weave is a little tight it can get a little challenging.
Steps
Step 1
Preparation is so important when it comes to painting. My chair was a little unusual in that it was in pretty bad shape, so I had quite a bit of work to do before I started painting.
The first thing we needed to do was glue and nail the chair back together. Thankfully, when the chair fell apart, we kept all of the smaller pieces so it was literally like a puzzle. We glued the pieces into place, then used a 18GA nailer to secure each corner and strengthen them.
Once I had made the repairs to the seat and arms, I applied wood filler to some of the most damaged sections. I’m not usually too particular with this as I don’t mind a little age shining through.
Step 2
Once you’ve filled, sand your piece. Depending on the current finish, you may want to use an electronic sander. My chair had very little varnish on it, so I just used a sanding block. If it’s heavily varnished, you will want to remove the varnish using a paint stripper or, my favourite hack - oven cleaner. Before you paint, make sure to clean the surface to remove any dirt and impurities.
Step 3
Prime – I used Dulux Duramax undercoat spray to prime my chair and applied one coat using light strokes.
Paint - The first colour I applied was two coats of Dulux Duramax Riviera Grey Chalk Finish Spray Paint. I left it for two hours to dry between coats. The second colour I applied was two coats of Dulux Duramax® Parisian White Chalk Finish Spray Paint. I also left two hours between coats.
Step 4
Once the paint was completely dry, I ran a sanding block along the edges of the chair and along the front and back. By applying more pressure you will expose the wood, and with less pressure you will expose the first shade of paint. There’s no right or wrong here. Depending on the look you want to you may choose to subtly distress your piece or you could be far more aggressive.
Step 5
This is the step that was completely new to me. I have never done any type of weaving so this step was a little stressful as I really had no idea what I was doing. But like with every project, I do my YouTube research and then just figure it out as I go.
The first step was to soak the cane. This step is really important otherwise the can will snap whilst you weave. You need to soak it in warm water for 2-3 minutes before you start weaving.
Step 6
I started from back to front and wrapped the weave then side to side.
Tip: I found the cane frayed when I was weaving so I rubbed Vaseline on the threads of the cane before I started weaving and it worked a treat. It made the weave much easier to thread and didn’t fray.
Tools and materials
- Sanding block
- Dulux Wood Primer
- Dulux Duramax Chalky Finish Riviera Grey
- Dulux Duramax Chalky Finish Parisian White
- Wood filler
- Cane
- Vaseline.
Tools used in the project:
Before and after
More inspiration for your upcycling project
Bunnings Workshop member pepsp completed an effective timber chairs upcycle project.
Check out our Top 10 most popular indoor furniture projects for more inspiring ideas from community members.
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