Refinished High Chair

Good morning and happy Thursday friends! As most of you know, we had our third child last September. The nice thing about it being our third girl, is that we didn't really have to buy all that much. Except, you know I had to buy some new clothes for her because it was too exciting and I thought she deserved to have SOME new things! Anyway, we had a high chair that had survived both Princess and Peanut, but when I was pregnant with (we'll call her...) Shortcake I decided that I really wanted to get her a wooden high chair. When you have three children, there gets to be so much plastic that its really nice to have REAL things. Like a wood high chair. So of course I got on Pinterest and found hundreds of cute ways to refinish high chairs and then I was sold. All I had to do was find the right high chair at the right price. Which, let me tell you is not easy. They have vintage high chairs selling on ebay for hundreds! No joke! But in the end after a few months of searching, I found one locally on craigslist. It took me a week or two to get it all finished, but its done! And just in time for miss Shortcake to start eating solids! Here are the before and afters and how I refinished it.

BEFORE:

It was actually in really great condition and very pretty to begin with, but I had to make it my own.







































AFTER:

How I refinished it: First I tried to use this spray-on paint stripper to kind of loosen up all of the finish on the chair before sanding it down. It did not work at all and I don't recommend it! It just ended up being a huge mess and didn't really take off any of the finish. I have never used the kind that you pour/wipe on, so that may have worked better. But I was trying to have the least mess possible, while also doing a good job and the spray just ended up being a hassle. 

Step 1. So after cleaning off all of that, I sanded it down with a hand sander. It took a while and I had to hand sand the legs and crevices. 

Step 2. Then I stained it with Varathane Wood Stain in Weathered Gray. 

Step 3.Then I sanded that down slightly to give it an antiqued look and let the wood show through in places.

Step 4. Then I sealed the chair with Martha Stewart Crafts Vintage Decor Clear Wax and the top/tray I sealed with Watco Butcher Block Oil and Finish. I did the tray with the butcher block finish because it is food safe. The butcher block finish also made the tray wipable. The clear wax (I have noticed on my kitchen hutch that I refinished a while back) can wipe off pretty easily when it gets wet. Both finishes are very different and you may notice in the pictures that the butcher block oil made the tray shinier than the rest of the chair. This step took the longest because they both needed several coats and you have to let the coats dry for several hours. Then that was it! A brand new wooden high chair for Shortcake!  

She is still a little bit too small for it and isn't quite sitting up on her own yet, but I think she likes it!
Hope you enjoyed and as always, let me know if you have any questions about the project.

Have a great weekend! I'm off to LA for the weekend to do some wedding dress shopping with my sister!!! I'm so excited for her! And guess who gets to come with me? Little Shortcake for her first ever plan ride. Wish me luck!