Chair Refinishing

My MIL has been searching for dining room chairs for months. I have gone with her four times for 4+ hours each time. We have purchased twice and had to return them both times. I love spending time with my MIL but this has not been fun.

I just finished refinishing my not coffee table and was feeling like I could take on another project so I volunteered to refinish her chairs. As you can see the chair was dirty and the stain has rubbed off on the top rail and the seat front.

I went to my favorite paint guy, Ski, at Home Depot and we color matched it with some difficulty since it was a stain we were trying to match. Then Ski suggested - due to the black dirt on the chair - a really good cleaner, Krud Kleaner. Boy does it do the job! I had to clean for about an hour but it was worth it!

I had to let it dry for a whole day before I could start sanding. I sanded for no less than 2 hours. I was so tired! I sanded it twice. Then I painted three coats of primer plus paint.

This is the end result. You can't see the wood grain because this is a paint but I was not willing to strip it down to wood so I could try to stain an old wood that may or may not soak up the stain.

Only three more to go...what was I thinking??