Painted Wooden Restaurant High Chair

We’ve made it to Friday folks!  The weekend is right around the corner.  We’ve actually been having rain down here in So Cal.  It feels like winter and I’m loving it!  I have a quick little DIY for you all today that I hope you enjoy.

I work for a restaurant concept and some of our stores are going through a remodel.  Thankfully for me, that means I get some free goods. 🙂  One of those goods just happened to be a wooden high chair.

Sorry this isn’t the best “before” picture.  This was after I began sanding.

I thought the heart cutout was adorable and that it would be perfect for my niece Poppy.  She’s one today (happy birthday Poppy!).  I don’t know up to what age kids use these things but I hope she gets good use out of it.

Needless to say, since this piece was coming from a restaurant, it needed some sprucing up.  Let’s just say you could tell it was used by many children. 😉  I also wanted to get rid of the varnish because I was going to paint the high chair and I wasn’t using chalk paint (didn’t feel like spending the money).

I first removed the seat straps and washed them using this process (although I used vinegar instead of bleach).  After wiping down the chair with some warm water and soap I was ready to tackle the varnish.

Bob Vila told me (okay, he didn’t literally TELL me, but his website told me!) there are a few ways to remove varnish.  One of the options is sanding and, while this is time consuming, I decided to go this route as I didn’t want to deal with chemicals found in paint thinners or strippers.

Bob Vila was right; sanding takes time!  I first used 150 grit to remove most of the varnish and then I used 220 grit to smooth it out.  It was a little awkward sanding the high chair with our electric sander so some areas I used a sanding block or just my hand and the paper.

As you can see from the below photos I wasn’t able to get everything.  I was on a time crunch so I decided it was good enough.  If I had more time, I would have worked on removing the varnish completely.

After sanding, I wiped down the high chair to get rid of any dust.  I used Valspar Mystified for my paint.  I love getting the Valspar sample size containers at Lowe’s.  They are inexpensive and even though the container is just 7.2 oz. I always have left over paint!

This is what the chair looked like after one coat.  Yikes!  Definitely needed another.

After two coats…much better!

I had left over brass spray paint from another project and thought a little brass touch on the bottom of the legs would be perfect.  I measured up 2.5″ and then used painters tape and newspaper to protect the high chair.  

Once everything was painted and dried, wax was applied to the high chair to give it a protective covering.  You can read about how I go about waxing furniture here.

The straps were stapled back on.

Here’s the finished product!

Then it was Poppy’s test of approval.

I think she loves it. 🙂  What do you think?

Side Note: Check out her adorable dress.  My sister picked it up when we were in Mexico.  I can’t get over the details.

I think we’re getting a break from the rain this weekend.  I hope you’re able to enjoy some sunshine too.  Enjoy your weekend and have fun DIYing!

xo, Jenneke Rose