Buzz-Worthy Black And White Buffalo Check Chairs

Buffalo Check Chairs

The one furniture makeover all of you should take on is a wood dining room chair with a fabric seat. It’s a project that will give you the most dramatic change with the least amount of work.

This makeover goes right at the top of my list of favorites. Like many of my furniture makeovers it took a turn or two during the project but the end result is amazing.

Black And White Buffalo Check Chairs

I painted these chairs with a paint sprayer and then covered the seats with a reversible black and white buffalo check plaid fabric. I made a video of the whole process…..painting, distressing, waxing, and covering the chair seats. It’s a must see.

I paid $20 for the four chairs. I picked them up at a roadside sale on the way home from the Nashville Flea Market one Saturday. They were a great find since I didn’t come home with anything from the market.

Those four chairs look awesome now. I’m calling them bold, bodacious, and beautiful. Black and white is so classy anyway and these chairs have class.

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Painting The Wood Chairs

I used the HomeRight Finish Max Super Paint Sprayer to paint the chairs. I also painted two more chairs I had in the workshop. It took all of one hour to paint all 6 chairs. If you guys have ever brush painted a chair you will appreciate this.

It usually takes me a total of 3 hours to paint one chair with two coats of paint using a brush. Between the legs, spindles, frame, it takes some time.

The paint is Beyond paint and the color is Licorice. This is the first time for I used the Beyond paint in a paint sprayer. To tell you the truth I wasn’t sure how or if it would work.

The Beyond paint is thicker than latex paint. I watered it done with an equal amount of water. I never measure, just pour water in and stir until it looks the right consistency for spraying.

This is how the chair looked after painting. Remember I have a video that shows the whole process. It’s kind of hard to take photos while using a paint sprayer. I’m good but not that good.

I clipped the above photo out of the video that’s why it doesn’t look that good.This paint sprayer is so easy to use. This is the new sprayer with more power. It’s has super power.

Distressing The Painted Chairs

Next I sanded the paint with my Ryobi battery powered sander. I distressed the chairs very heavily. That wasn’t the original plan but it worked. The pretty carved details just called for distressing.

Waxing The Chairs

After all of the distressing I used Howard’s Wax in neutral to cover the hazy look caused from the sanding. The wax also deepens the color of the wood.

The Beyond Paint is a primer-paint-sealer all in one. I just used the wax because of the distressing but I don’t normally use a sealer with the Beyond Paint.

Now that the chairs are painted, distressed, and waxed, time to cover the seats.

Covering The Chair Seats With Buffalo Check Fabric

I bought the reversible buffalo check fabric at Hobby Lobby. It is sooooo soft. Since it is reversible I covered two of the seats with the small check and two with the large check.

The first step in covering a fabric chair seat is to cut the fabric to size leaving 2 or 3 inches on all sides so you have enough fabric to cover the seat and staple to the bottom of the seat.

Covering the seats is super easy. You just need a good heavy duty stapler. Working the corners of the fabric so you don’t have very many wrinkles is the hardest part. This fabric was very lightweight and that made working the corners of the seat easy.

I like the two buffalo check designs together. The largest is my favorite but that would have been overkill on four chairs.

Ta-Dah. I did a fantastic job on those seats. Patting myself on the back. having a piece of chocolate.

The heavy distressing on the chairs works well with the checked fabric. I was a bit concerned but no need.

See how well the covered seats sit on the wood chair frames? Sometimes the fabric is thick on the corners and the seats don’t sit completely flat on the chairs.

I also didn’t remove the original fabric. The fabric and foam was in great shape. Nice and thick and no tears in the fabric. I did clean and refresh the old fabric with Simple Green and let it dry well before covering.

Video Tutorial: Buffalo Check Chairs

Time to take a look at the video. Don’t worry I sped up the dull parts. You guys know I don’t want you to sit through 30 minutes of me just using the paint sprayer.

I show you all the steps but not all of the project work all of the way through. This video is less than 4 minutes long and includes the painting, distressing, waxing and covering one chair seat. Enjoy….

How To Paint Chairs And Cover The Seats

What do you think of the chairs, the color, the fabric? Leave a note before heading out. As always, thanks for being here and have a great day, Kathy

Find the paint, paint sprayer, wax, and sander on the Petticoat Junktion Amazon Page here.

Kathy Owen

Kathy Owen is the creative guru, content creator, photographer, and worker bee behind the popular Home Décor DIY Blog Petticoat Junktion. She focuses on reinventing found treasures and decorating her home Get all the nitty gritty on Kathy here.

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