Dear Chairs, I Give Up - A Cautionary Tale of the Dangers of Painting Wood

When I first moved to Atlanta after lawschool, I ended up with my grandmother's kitchen table and chairs.  When I got the set, it was stained with a really pretty dark finish.   Unfortunately the set was pretty beaten up and needed to be refinished.

I didn't have the time or the inclination to properly refinish the set.  So I just slapped some paint on it and called it done. 

My dining chair painted black

In the past six years these chairs were painted white, then red (which was a horrible idea that I immediately rectified), then black, then white, then black again.

I recently recovered the cushions to match my new blue and grey color scheme.  I planned on just slapping another coat of white paint on the chairs but didn't like the look of the fabric with the stark white paint. 

I decided the chairs would look better if they were stripped and stained.

I started sanding in December. 

Six months later and I'm still sanding.

3 chairs are about 95% complete. 



One chair that I've ALMOST completed sanding after six months

One chair is only halfway done. 

I just can't take it anymore.  I cannot bear sanding for another minute. 

I give up. 

So I just bought these Parsons Chairs on Craigslist.

I plan to make slipcovers for them.  Hopefully that won't take six months.



So please, learn from my mistakes.  Please think twice before painting your stained wood.