How To Spray Paint A Chair

A chair is an incredibly easy furniture item to update. Just by using a complementary shade of spray paint, an upcycled chair project can be completed in a matter of hours.

The below how-to guide can be applied to any chair transformation. One idea could be bringing a splash of colour to a dull, dining room table and chair set by adding a different colour to each seat.

Injecting new life into garden chairs and plastic children’s seats also make for fun projects and is an ideal way to save money on buying new.

We used Rust-Oleum Universal Spray Paint for this upcycle, there is a huge range of colours to chose from so you can be sure you’ll find you perfect match.

So what are you waiting for? Get creative and give it a go!

Steps

Move the chairs to be painted to a well-ventilated area and place on top of newspaper or a dust sheet. Mask off any areas not to be painted and separate areas if relevant – for instance if you want a two tone effect on the base and the back support (in this case we unscrewed the legs). Protect the surrounding area with additional dust sheets or newspaper.
Ensure surfaces to be painted are free from loose paint, rust, wax, oil and grease. Previously painted surfaces such as wood and metal should be abraded to provide a key (rough surface) that the new paint can adhere to. Unless you are painting with Rust-Oleum Universal Spray Paint, bare wood and metal should be primed with Rust-Oleum Surface Primer and bare plastic should be primed with Rust-Oleum Plastic Primer.
Using your selected product and colour, hold the can approximately 30cm from the surface of the chair and spray in a steady back and forth motion, slightly overlapping with each stroke. For best results whilst spraying keep the can the same distance from the surface and in motion. Apply several light coats a few minutes apart.
Leave for 24 hours to ensure the paint is thoroughly dry before moving it back into the house, and giving it its pride of place.