DIY Painted Chair For A Teen’s Room

Do you have a wooden chair that you’ve been wanting to refresh and give a new purpose? Painting a wood chair is easier than you may think! Follow along with this tutorial to learn all my tips and tricks so your painted chair looks and feels brand new.

I have a chair that I purchased at a yard sale several years ago. We’re in the middle of doing a makeover on my teen daughter’s bedroom, so I wanted to take this old yard sale chair and give it new life in her room.

Over the years, I’ve refinished several pieces of wood furniture. I’ve refinished chairs with wood stain and I’ve also used colored stain. But for this project, I wanted to move away from the wood look to make the chair colorful and fun for a teen girl’s room.

That meant that I needed to paint the chair. I decided to use a process similar to what I did when I made this DIY Nautical Whale Dresser, and it turned out so well. This yard sale chair was a steal when I bought it, and it’s even better now as a fun, painted chair!

Painted Chair Before And After

No transformation post is complete without a before and after picture, y’all. So here it is! When I first bought the chair, I spruced it up and put that neon-striped fabric on it.

This time, I removed that fabric, gave that chair a fab paint makeover, and recovered the seat in chevron. Doesn’t it look so much better?

How To Paint A Chair

Here’s everything you need to know to turn an old wooden piece into a “new” beautiful painted chair.

Note: This post is focusing on the painting portion of this project, not refurnishing the upholstery. I hope to get another post up soon about how I did that, so keep your eyes peeled for more!

Supplies Needed

Here’s what you’ll need to gather:

• Wooden chair you want to makeover
• Fine sandpaper
• Glidden High Endurance Plus Paint and Primer
• Paintbrush

DIY Painted Chair Instructions

The paint color I chose for the chair is one of the colors used in my DIY gradient color wall.

We chose gray for the majority of the room, but the focus wall is the gradient wall with various shades of aqua. I grabbed the middle shade for this chair to tie it in with the rest of the room makeover.

Just in case y’all need the details on that color (I had them match off of a competitor’s paint chip), here is the formula you can give to your paint counter.

Step 1: Clean Your Piece

Anytime you go to refinish furniture, it’s important to take a little time washing it with soap and water to make sure there isn’t anything on it (like food, etc.) before you start working.

Give your piece time to dry after cleaning it before moving on to the next step.

Pro Tip: If you have a cushion on there that hasn’t been removed, take that off so you don’t get paint on it.

Step 2: Lightly Sand The Wood

When you paint wood, you usually need to lightly sand the surface so that the paint will adhere properly.

Take a piece of sandpaper and just lightly rough up the surface of the wood.

Step 3: Paint Your Chair

Take your paint and paintbrush and paint your wood. Make sure to get all the angles and crevices! You may need to paint part, let it fully dry, then flip it upside down to reach different angles.

If you need more than one coat of paint, allow the paint to dry in between coats. It took me just two coats to get rid of that ugly brown on my chair.

The seat covering is a whole other story (for another day), but I did it!

Now, the painted chair for my daughter’s room is ready to use.

DIY Painted Chair FAQs

If you have questions about painting a wooden chair, I have answers for you! Please leave your question for me in the comments if you don’t see it already answered below.

Do I need to sand the wood before I paint it?

Yes, you need to lightly rough up the wood with sandpaper before you paint it – unless you’re going for a chippy look or using chalk paint. Paint doesn’t stick well to finished or smooth wood, so sanding it creates a rougher surface that the paint will adhere to.

Do I need to seal a painted chair before using it?

Nope! Once you add as many coats of paint as you need and let it dry completely, your chair is ready to use! There’s no need to add some kind of sealant or top layer.

More Furniture Makeover Ideas And Help

If you like this DIY painted chair project, check out these other ideas too!

• Painting Wicker Furniture Tutorial
• Painting a Stool with a Custom Stencil
• DIY Footstool You Can Make from a Crate
• How To Create A Chippy Paint Finish
• Paint Chair Fabric

DIY Painted Chair Makeover

Painting a wood chair is easier than you may think! Learn all my tips and tricks so your painted chair looks and feels brand new.

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Supplies

• Wood chair you want to refinish
• Sandpaper
• Glidden High Endurance Plus Paint and Primer
• Paintbrush

Instructions

• Wash your piece with soap and water to ensure there isn’t anything on it before you start working, then let it dry before continuing.
• Take a piece of sandpaper and lightly sand the surface so that the paint will adhere properly.
• Take your paintbrush and paint and paint the chair. You may need more than one coat. If you do, make sure the paint dries between coats.

Tried this project?tag us to show off your work!