Before + After DIY chair makeover...

Hello friends...  See that chair up there?  

Here's the backstory; I've been parking my butt on it for nearly 3 decades.  

My mom found it at a teacher's estate sale a long, long time ago along with a matching desk.  The desk/chair set lived in my room as a kid, and it's where I did homework, listened to Joni Mitchell for the first time, wrote and edited a zine, cried into my journal, and ate meals with my head buried in a book during my parent's fancy dinner parties.  

Quick!  Look away for a sec, mom...  

I also secretly carved my name into both pieces.  

Somewhere along the line the desk went rogue, but thankfully my mother had the foresight to load this chair into a Matson container and haul it over the ocean with her when she moved to California.  I still use this chair just about every day.  I love it.   

Needless to say, the chair deserved a little facelift.  The white paint had some pretty well-worn indigo stains from years of my denim-clad posterior sitting in it.  SO...

Step 1: A fresh coat of ivory paint (but only on top, b/c those distressed legs are where it's at).

Step 2: Squiggly branches with dark brown paint.

Step 3: Emerald green + golden brown leaves - 1 quick stroke w/ sideways brush that ends in a point.

Step 4: Messy pink abstract flowers - stamping motion in center w/ swirly edges.

Step 5: Stamp red paint just in center of flowers.  Use dry brush.

Now I love my favorite chair even more!  ♥