A while back I shared the chair that I recovered in anticipation of taking it to Reclaiming Beautiful (the shop where I sell on consignment in Stillwater, MN).  I had this chair in my own house for a couple of years so the seat needed fresh upholstery to make it shop-worthy, which was an easy spruce up … or so I thought.

I noticed while I was working on the chair that there were a few loose chips of paint here and there, so I just brushed those away and kept going.  After the chair was finished, I stored it in my non-climate controlled workshop in the carriage house for a few weeks before loading it up to go to the shop.

However, when I went to unload the chair from the van after arriving at the shop it was obvious that there were more than just a few loose chips.  It was shedding like gang busters.  I don’t know if it was the time spent in a damp workshop or what, but clearly it was in no shape to sell.  So I left it in the van and brought it back home to see what I could do with it.

I originally painted this chair back in October 2015 using Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint in Linen.  I sealed it with clear wax.  It was slightly chippy from the beginning as you can see here …

I have found that any piece that starts out chippy tends to chip more over time if not sealed with something more durable than wax and/or hemp oil, like Miss Mustard Seed’s Tough Coat Sealer.  Especially if it’s a piece that is handled/used a lot.  But I’ve never had a piece get this chippy over time.

Plan A was to sand the chair down and re-paint it using the same MMS Linen (or maybe technically this is Plan B since the original plan was to simply re-cover the seat).  In case you are wondering, yes, you can definitely paint over a waxed surface that has cured for 3.5 years.  Normally this would just require a quick scuff sanding.

However, I used a power sander to knock off as much of that loose paint as possible.  And a lot of paint did come off.  But then, as I was looking at the chair, I realized that I kind of loved it looking uber chippy and distressed.  I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea (Betty, you may want to look away), but I also know there are fellow chippy lovers out there too!

So rather than re-paint,  I cleaned away the dust and then sealed the chair using The Real Milk Paint Co’s Dead Flat Finishing Cream.  This should help it hold up over time, and prevent it from shedding paint chips all over the floor again.

Also, in case you are wondering, I opted for the Dead Flat Finishing Cream rather than Tough Coat Sealer because it is a thick paste that doesn’t drip.  I’m not the greatest at avoiding drips with more fluid sealers, especially on a piece like this with lots of legs and details where a more liquid product will pool and then drip.

My q tip of the day:  Know your own limitations.  Products that work well for others may not suit you, so experiment with things and find what works well for you!

Hopefully someone out there will love this chippy chair as much as I do.  Although I put it up in our bedroom to take these photos, it’s really not practical to have it in front of my closet door on a permanent basis.

So I’ll be taking this one back to Reclaiming Beautiful again, and this time it won’t be sitting in a pool of paint chips.

Unless one of my local readers wants to snatch it up first (in which case, be sure to check my available for local sale page for more details).

Meanwhile, I’ll be back here on Friday to tell you a little bit more about that pillow on the chair, so be sure to stay tuned!