I recently had the opportunity to join a new blogging group called Furniture Refresh! Each month, we get to take an old piece of furniture and breath new life into it using different products and techniques! This month, our mission was to stain a piece of furniture.

This is my first project with the Furniture Refresh group, so I’m really excited to share it with you all!

Here we go…

I ended up finding this beautiful little chair at one of the vintage shops back in my hometown. Even though it’s a little on the small side, it will actually fit perfect in our upstairs bathroom, so I’ll have somewhere comfy to sit while I’m bathing the girls!

I have to admit that this chair was pretty darn cute looking already, but I thought it would be just perfect for this project!

Oh, and here is my little helper, Miss Lacee Grace… She’s pretty darn cute too!

I’d never actually used Paint Stripper before, so I was actually really excited to try it! I usually just use my Palm Sander and give everything a nice clean sanding, but I’d lent it out to a friend, so this was the perfect opportunity to give paint stripper a try!

The paint stripper that I chose was in a gel form, which I actually found very easy to work with. The gel was easy to spread and didn’t just drip off of the chair. Note that I also bought a pair of Rubber Gloves to wear while using this paint stripper, since it can be harmful to your skin.

I used an old Paint Brush to apply the product to my chair, and then let it sit for a few minutes. The paint stripper will kind of eat up/deform your paint brush, so make sure that you don’t use your good one! I also tried using a Foam Brush, but it didn’t last very long at all.

A lot of the old paint bubbled up and peeled right off with the first application.

I used my trusty Scraper to scrape off the bubbled up paint.

After using my scraper, I added more paint stripper to any of the areas where the paint did not come off easily.

After this second application, most of the larger areas of paint was easily removed.

After getting everything off that I could with the paint thinner, I used some medium grit Sandpaper to take anything that was left off, and I still had to use my scraper to get the old paint out of the corners, cracks, and crevices.

But seriously though… Check out all of that gorgeous wood that was just hiding out under all of that paint! This is definitely a good solid chair!

The stain that I chose to use for this project is the stain that I use for all of my projects… Minwax Special Walnut. I always like to use a rag to apply my stain, rather than a brush. I just find that it goes on smoother and can be easily rubbed into the wood.

Here’s a sneak peek! Half stained, half not!

And here is the whole thing finished!

I’m so happy with how it turned out, and it fits just perfect in the bathroom, so I can easily sit while I’m keeping an eye on the girls!

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Here are some other posts that you may also enjoy:

Hutch Make-Over with Chalk Paint!

Chalk Paint Tried & Tested (I finally did it!)

Why I’m Obsessed with Flea Markets, and Why You Should Be Too! (Check out the newest additions to The Project Pile!)

Another Chair Refresh from my friend Candace over at The Candie Corner

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