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Pimp my Furniture: Updated Vintage High Chair

By Dawn Sailors In Pimp my Furniture

Quite a while ago, I was on the hunt for a new seat for Vera.For the longest time she ate sitting on top of our kitchen counter in her little high chair seat, which worked great for a baby, but not so much for a toddler. Our bar stools raise high enough for her to comfortably sit at, but since they have no back or arms, they weren’t very safe for her wiggling ways.

Hence the new high chair. Or rather, the old high chair. Because you know me, and me loves vintage.

I found this beauty at a thrift store (The Imaginarium in Benson for any locals wondering), and knew it would be perfect. The only problem with it was that the latches for the tray had long since gone missing, but since Vera definitely doesn’t need a tray to eat from, I figured that was just fine by me. I brought her home for $20 beans.

Before I did anything crafty to it, I cleaned it thoroughly and we tested it out for a while to make sure it was just right. Vera loved it. The thought of having her own special seat made her so proud. So knowing that it would get lots of use, I went to work making form follow function. :)

First I took her out to the garage and sanded everything down, followed by another good cleaning to get all the sawdust off. Then it was primer time. Two nice even coats did the trick.

After that, came a color I’ve been dying to use: a light minty green. It’s so fresh and clean looking! Definitely a big change from the dark wood high chair we started with.

I was loving it, but something was missing. I wanted to add a little glam too. Something fun, since this chair was for a kid after all. So once the paint was dry, I broke out my frog tape and created a few diagonal lines on the front and seat of the chair. And one on the back for good measure. :) Then I used gold rub n’ buff to fill in my stripes. Easy peasy.

When I pulled off the tape, I was instantly sure I’d made the right decision. It is so pretty and fun!! I’m really loving the bronze stripes against the minty blue. (FYI- It looks a little more baby blue in these photos than in person, where it shows a hint more green tones. The top, front facing photo is probably the most true-to-life color.)

To make sure this baby could take a beating (cause it’s a high chair and you know it will), I added a few coats of spray gloss varnish. Easy to clean and should keep everything looking pretty for much longer.

So there you have it. A fun new chair for my girl. So far it’s been put to good use.