High Chair Redo

I like the look of old high chairs because they blend into the décor of the house so much better than new plastic ones.  I found an old high chair that was perfect in looks and price at an antique store. In fact, this high chair was the first thing I purchased when I found out I was expecting.

The wood grain on the chair was quite nice, I just wasn’t a fan of the orange-ish color.  So I decided to strip the chair with the intent of restaining it a reddish color so that the grain would show through.  Being pregnant, I had my husband strip the chair with spray on stain/varnish stripper.  We quickly learned what a mess that creates.  We both lost interest about halfway through the process.  So the chair sat for about two months with dried paint stripper on it.  It was a big mess.  Finally, I got up the nerve to begin again. With steel wool and sandpaper I was able to get the dried stripper and old varnish off the chair.  It was ready for stain.  The local paint store had a stain called “fruit punch”, I liked the look of the paint chip and so I went ahead and had some mixed.  Big mistake.  It came out looking hot pink.    So, there I was again, with steel wool and sandpaper, getting “fruit punch” stain off the chair.  Being a little discouraged by the ordeal this project was turning out to be, it sat stagnant for another couple months.

Stripped and sanded with a hint of "fruit punch".

Then, the nesting instinct kicked in and I suddenly had a new drive to get this chair done! Not wanting to spend too much more money, I went to the store and bought the cheapest red spray paint I could find.  With me being pregnant, my sister volunteered to do the spray painting.  It turned out great!  I opted not to paint the wood on the tray and foot rest, which was a nice way of preserving some of the pretty wood grain.   We thickly coated it with polyurethane so that it will endure spills and withstand general baby wear and tear.

Last but not least, the tray needed some latches so that it would attach to the chair.  I found some high chair hardware online here.  Perfect!  They latch and unlatch easily.

Redoing this high chair was a lot of trial and error, but in the end, it turned out very cute and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Ready for Baby!