Easy Chair Transformation

For a long time now, as we have walked around our neighborhood, I keep noticing that most other houses have a welcoming, comfy chair sitting by the front door.  I like the nuance of it.  The come-sit-and-enjoy-life-from-this-porch attitude.  The suggestion that we must be kind people because we keep a lovely chair on the  front stoop.

I want to be one of those houses.  And our front porch has just enough room in the corner there for such a chair.  The problem is finding the right chair.  I perused Craigslist.  I roamed the garden aisles at Target and Walmart.  I visited the local furniture consignment shop.  There are plenty of cute chairs, they just cost WAY too much for my little wallet.

Last week I mentioned my chair idea to my mother-in-law and she said she HAD a chair like that, just sitting in the basement that I could have.  I know fate when I run into it head-on, so I gratefully brought home a new wicker chair.  

I could barely wait to get to the store and pick out some paint for it.  First, I found a seat cushion at Walmart for $12.  I figured that was cheaper than buying the fabric and foam and making my own.  So I went for it.

Then I took that cushion over to the spray paint and selected an "Oxford Blue" color because it looked right next to the cushion (plus it sounded well-educated).  

I set the chair in the grass and started spray-painting it.  I did not prime this piece because the blue I was using was significantly darker than the wicker color.  I used 2 full cans and decided that it looked great.  Then I put it up on the porch and suddenly, staring at it from a lower angle, I could see all the many, many places I had missed.

Two MORE full cans of Oxford Blue later, it really was done.  My advice: if you are painting wicker, turn it every which way and spray it from every angle (upside down, sideways, top-ways, bottom-ways, etc.) because there are so many nooks and crannies to cover.

Final Cost of this project:

Chair: FREE

Cushion: $12 (Walmart)

Paint: 4 cans @ $3.27 (Walmart) = $13.08

Total = about $25

But for what minimal effort it took, I have to say the outcome was rather satisfying.  It looks great on the front porch and not half-bad in my living room, too!  I hope people will walk by my house and say, "What a comfy little porch they have, I really want to get to know that family."  Or something to that effect.

One more side-by-side:

Happy painting!

--KC