Family Heirloom Chair Make Over
My Mother in Lawish [We're not married, Honey in law??] who was widowed about five years ago decided after 45 years of Florida heat it was time to be with my Sister in Lawish in Indiana. Jeff [my honey] wanted to make sure any keepsakes important to him didn't get tossed or donated, the only thing left was this chair.
Apparently it was originally purchased when they lived in Philadelphia specifically for Jeff's sister to use at her desk while doing homework. His entire family moved to Florida in 1978 and moved three times, yet this chair went with them throughout it all. It's very sturdy and with the exception of the paint wear was in pretty good shape.
This is my first ever attempt at refinishing furniture so I knew very little going into the project except
- I wanted the blue gone
- I wanted to capture how special and generational it is
Jeff's parents and two older siblings emigrated from Austria and Switzerland respectively to the US, Jeff was born born about two years later. His Mom is very proud of her heritage and since his Dad has passed I decided to incorporate something reflecting their countries of origin. I hoped to be able to identify the chair's history in some way also but wasn't sure how to do that but I figured it out.
Before Front prior to removing paint
Before back legs prior to removing paint
Before- Back Top before removing paint
I finally got the paint off. I sanded this thing for hours both by hand and with a power sander. The black on the right is original stain that apparently REALLY absorbed into the wood because it's not budging.
I took'er outside to begin adding decorative elements.
Side view Before
Back view before
No matter how much sanding I did in the little crevices I was never able to completely remove the blue so I decided to go with it and add some blue highlights in strategic areas
I applied ArtMinds Bahama Blue Pickling to a clean rag and lightly rubbed it onto the seat. As with the old black stain the wood took to it more in some areas then others.
I measured the length of the area I wanted to paint then used Word to type out the name in the font I and spacing I liked. Used references of the Swiss and Austrian flag to make sure I was spacing the colored areas of the flags appropriately. I laid it out how I wanted then printed it out then taped a piece of carbon paper to the back of the print out. Then I taped the whole thing to the back of the chair and used a pencil to trace over everything which transferred the art work onto the wood.
I hand painted the letters and flags being sure to use masking tape around the flag edges.
The lettering and flags are completely painted and the Tape is all removed. I put several coats of spray poly over the paint before adding any with a brush. I've experienced paint smear in the past when applying poly over new paint by brush. I put way too many hours to risk that!
According to Collectors Weekly: "S Bent & Brothers, a furniture company established in 1867. They closed in 2000. At one time Gardner, Mass., was known as the “Chair Capitol of the World.” Other well-known furniture companies located there were Conant-Ball, Heywood-Wakefield and Baumritter, the company that became Ethan Allen.S. Bent and Brothers was known for producing well-made, high-quality furniture. They specialized in the style known as “Colonial Revival.” The two most common primary woods are maple and ash stained to look like oak. S Bent & Brothers were known for their well-made chairs, especially the Windsor type. They also produced dining room tables and other types of household furnishings. From the number of chairs I found in auction results, S Bent and Brothers must have made a great many Alumni chairs for a wide range of colleges and universities. http://www.bradenton.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/article34063716.html "
** I spent a few days attempting to locate even one exact replica of this chair but couldn't. I found a few close but none were exact. I used a very fine grit sand paper on this to keep as much integrity of the stamp as possible all while trying to actually see it.
The completed back
I put the chair on the table for the picture so disregard whatever that stain stuff is, that's for Jeff's project.
The completed front
When Jeff's Mom saw the pictures she was so thrilled but when she came down to visit she was over the moon.
Jeff is very impressed too- that means more because he's a trained artist and while he never brutally honest he will tell me the truth. I consider it a score! I learned a lot and am very proud of my first refinishing project. If I can do it so can you!
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Sheila on Mar 14, 2021
Love it!! I’m glad it looks more original and not covered up with paint!
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Cheryl on Mar 15, 2021
I just love that chair! It’s beautiful and I bet unexpectedly comfortable!
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Kimberley's Joy on Mar 15, 2021
Thank you so much, Cheryl. I really appreciate your feedback and, you know, it really is comfortable. I call it Kim sized because my feet can actually reach the floor when I'm sitting in it.
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