The Stylish High Chair

I had a friend message me on one of our social media accounts about having us refinish her old wooden high chair. She wasn't fully sure on what she wanted to do, but after browsing through Pinterest and finding some awesome examples of two toned furniture she thought that would be the best look for her style. And I’m so happy that she chose the two toned look!

When she first sent me pictures of this high chair I thought “WOW!!” what a unique piece, as you can see below the wooden high chair converts into a little kids desk! After researching a little online and looking over the style of the chair and hardware I believe it is between 1930-40’s, (correct me if I’m wrong, I’m not highly educated in antiques). But I thought it was such a unique piece that it needed to be updated so she could flaunt it in her home!

Not going to lie, but it was pretty filthy (sorry Chelsey!) haha but with some elbow grease and my handy scraper the gunk didn't stand a chance! After I got it all cleaned up and pulled apart, I started stripping the stain. Ah! I know!! It’s never a smart idea to strip an antique of its original stain and varnish, especially for resale purposes, but Chelsey wanted the Dark Walnut look and she wasn't looking to sell the piece any time in the future. So I would rather my customer be able to use the furniture in her home, enjoy it, and the piece look like it belongs there.

So after stripping the stain, I of course sanded and used Minwax’s “Dark Walnut” stain then gave it four coats of poly (had to be sure it could withstand a kid for a while! Lol)

Now that the stain was finished I started painting it in Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint called “Old White”---one of my favorite colors of hers!

Two coats and two hours later I started distressing the high chair, I like to switch it up sometimes from my scraper to sanding pads depending on the look I’m going for. Lastly I coated it with Annie Sloan’s Clear and Dark Wax.

I’m so happy with the way it turned out. Hopefully it withstands another 75+ years of kid abuse!

Here’s another photo of the before and after :) If you are interested in having one of the BC girls refinish your furniture shoot us an email at bcdesignok@gmail.com

Stay rustic my friends!