Got an old chair? Give it an eye-catching makeover in just 5 steps

It’s never been easier to inject new life into an old chair. Thanks to this simple ombré painting method, you can have a chic and colorful new chair within an afternoon. Place it in the corner of your living room for additional seating, or use it to personalize a desk or vanity table. You could even make a set of chairs, each with a different color scheme, for the ultimate rainbow dining table.
Chalk paint in three shades of blue is the key to this simple ombré chair. However, if buying that many bottles of paint isn’t ideal for your budget, remember that you can make the shades yourself. Start with chalk paint in white and in the darkest hue you want, then blend them together to create two or three intermediate shades. You can experiment by blending two parts blue to one part white, one part blue to one part white, and one part blue to two parts white.
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Materials
- Old chair
- Random orbit sander
- Sanding block
- Rag
- Large paintbrush
- Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in white
- Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in blue
- Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in gray-blue
- Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in light blue
- Small paintbrush
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Sand the surfaces of the chair with a random orbit sander. Use a handheld sanding block to reach the places the electric sander can’t. Wipe the dust away with a rag and paintbrush.
2. Paint the entire chair white. Allow the paint to dry.
3. Paint the top 1/4 of the chair back with the darkest blue paint. Paint the second 1/4 of the back with the gray-blue paint. Paint the third 1/4 of the back with light blue paint.
4. Mix a little bit of the gray-blue and light blue paint together. With a small paintbrush, paint between the gray-blue paint and the light blue paint that you applied in step 3.
5. With the small paintbrush, apply a little more white paint to the bottom of the chair back, blending it into the bottom of the light blue paint applied in step 3.
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