I bought these chairs, last week, at Goodwill for $2.99 each.  They were pretty beat up and had a lovely mauve/floral pattern on the seat cushions.  (Do you hear the sarcasm in my voice?) Ok, they weren’t very lovely.

I’ve been on the lookout for some fun chairs for the art area outside of my classroom.

We have two chairs along the back desk, so I was looking for a pair of old wooden chairs I could use here instead.

Taking inspiration from last month’s BHG magazine, I decided to try covering the chairs with painted drop cloths.  I had lots of extra drop cloth fabric on hand, so I started by covering the chairs and then taping off the pattern I wanted.

I also used paper to cover off any other area I did not want to get paint on.  Looking back, I should have used a stronger tape.  The tape directly on the drop cloth worked perfectly.  The tape that was taped to the tape did not stick as well.

Then, I just started painting, using light coats of paint.  I used brown spray paint.  I’m aiming for a natural feel for the art area.  I’d like to use wood tones, natural materials, flowers and leaves, wooden containers, glass bottles, etc, in this area.  I think it’s soothing and relaxing.  This is a calm, quiet, place for kids to go during the day.  So, although brown isn’t usually the color I go with when I’m working with kids’ spaces, it seemed to fit in this area.

My initial thought was that I would paint the chairs cream and then distress them a little.  Thinking about all of the paint, markers, and other art materials, I decided against cream paint.  I decided to stick with the chipped up brown stain the chairs came with.  I spent a little time with the sander, distressing the finish a little more.  I wanted it to look like I did the distressing on purpose, not because I was too lazy to paint.

  I used Minwax Wood Wax over the top of the wood for a little extra protection.  The paint on the drop cloth didn’t leak or run into the taped off portion at all.  The only problem was where the tape was taped onto tape. (That was a mouthful.) It didn’t stick well and I had a little overspray.  Oh, well.  It’s for the art area and I’m sure the kids will get more paint of them and never even notice.

I love the way the chairs turned out.  Hmmmm.  I do need two more chairs for my dining room. 

Happy painting!