Eeeeek! I am so excited for this to be my first “Design” post. I created this section of my blog because I absolutely love interior design, DIYs and all things aesthetically pleasing and I knew that it had to be included on my site. Over the last year, my husband bought his first home and I had the pleasure of decorating and really making it a home, but now that we are married and I am officially moved in, I can do even more of that in our space. I have so many things that I wanted to be able to show off and share and not everything makes it to my Instagram, but I am hoping that my blog can be a space for me to really document as many projects as I can and feature a lot of home decorating over the years, especially when the time comes for us to build and move into a new home.
This high chair was something I eyeballed at the thrift store over a matter of weeks and when they marked it on sale for only SEVEN DOLLARS, I knew the time had come to bring her home. I have a love for older items with character and what has more character than a wooden high chair with lots of carvings? When I first brought it home, I had a hard time deciding to paint it because I love natural wood and loved the particular color of this wood. I asked opinions from a few friends and I had them telling me that painting it white might look girly and since I had a son, I would want to leave it natural or paint it an orange or brown, but those colors weren’t sitting right with me and I went with white. I am so glad that I did and couldn’t be happier with the way it looks. It was everything I had envisioned.
My inspiration came from a Pinterest photo where the photo was featured in a toddler’s birthday photos, which I really wanted the high chair for, but didn’t find it in time. This high chair is Brooks’ full time high chair that we use daily for every meal and it is super easy to clean and buckle. Everything is super sturdy and safe. The white is sometimes hard to scrub clean if I miss a spot and the food hardens, but if cleaned immediately after a meal, there are no problems!
After a few weeks of using the high chair, I noticed a substantially large crack in the top of the tray that I was afraid would get food and water shoved down it and cause it to rot. I took the tray to my grandfather, who is an amazing woodworker, and he was willing to fix it! He ended up having to take the hardware off and snap the entire thing in half to properly clean and fit the pieces together properly and when he returned it, it was good as new! It’s polished and functions perfect!
The tray was something I never planned to paint mainly because I knew with all the ware it would take, there would be a good chance of chipping or water damage and I didn’t want to chance the paint getting into his food whether or not it wass toxic. I absolutely love the way it looks with the painted chair and unpainted tray. It’s so unique and antique looking. An instagram page that focuses on refurbishing called @revivefurnishings saw the post I made on my Instagram of the high chair when I first finished it, and made a beautiful chair themselves completely inspired by my chair, which I thought was pretty cool!
I’m going to leave a few photos below of the refurbishing this chair just for fun. The whole project took 3 coats and then a round of touchups and that process is fun to see. But first, here are some tips I will give to those of you who want to try doing this yourselves:
1. Don’t just get any paint. Buy paint that is specifically made for wood. I used regular wall paint (like an idiot because I had no idea what I was doing) and while it hasn’t caused any issues, the paint holds to the wood much better and goes on less tacky.
2. Don’t use a polyurethane that is going to leave a yellow coat on top of your paint job. You want to find one that is NOT oil based because the oils are what leaves the film causing the yellowing. Make sure you do some research or ask the workers at your local hardware store for advice on the best clear coat to protect your work!
3. Before beginning the painting process, clean the surface really well and allow to dry. If you paint without cleaning there could be dirt, hair, (and in this case) food, that will cause bumps underneath the paint and any moisture will prevent the paint from adhering to the wood.
Thank you so much for reading ❤
xo Abigail
Abbvocado 