New ASCP Projects - Lessons Learned About Painting Caning and an OOPS!

I am continuing to love my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint projects - link to site.  I also find that experimenting with the chalk paints can lead to different options and treatments.  Both chairs were cane-back French country style chairs with woodwork that works particularly well with the paints - so I have definitely been looking for and buying these type chairs.

I had planned to do both chairs pretty much as is - using the chalk paint to refinish the woodwork and having the seats professionally upholstered.   Since my pieces are all (or mostly) done for sale and I have no interest (or talent) for upholstery work, I do use the services of an expert - Mr. Lee of Song's Upholstery in Norcross, Georgia.

These two projects pretty well started the same way - a selection of chalk paint color and fabric.  I am the lucky owner of the following great colors:

Old White

Old Ochre

Graphite

Duck Egg Blue

Chateau Grey

Paris Grey

CoCo

Before Chair - Chair Number 1

This chair was not as well constructed as some - the seat cushion platform did require new materials but the styling, size and caning were all positives.  I would NEVER buy a piece of furniture that had broken or even obviously repaired caning - it is very expensive to repair and does require an expert.

Chair with ASCP Graphite

I decided to use graphite black on this chair and had a green and white small piece of fabric I thought would complement the black well.  I had done another caned piece (settee in Chateau Grey - long sold) so was confident of that part of my project.

I found the caning hard to cover with the paint.  No matter how hard I worked on it - I ended up doing the back with three coats - I would find areas not covered to my satisfaction from certain angles.  I also found that I had pressed a little too hard and the caning was no longer tight and firm - it showed some slackness.  The moisture in the paint and my pressure had resulted in lost firmness which did not return when dried.

SO, I decided to have the caning removed by the upholsterer and fabric installed on the back. I choose a really nice linen tone-on-tone gold damask and dropped it off.

In the meanwhile, I picked up another chair with a caned back and was determined to give it another try - this time with old ochre - the fabric I selected  was a beautiful raspberry large-scale silk plaid - a less than two yards end that would just be enough.  I selected the paint color to complement the cream in the fabric.

 Slightly Smaller Scale and Oval Back - Chair Number. 2

This time, I was particularly careful about the amount of pressure I was applying on the caning - making sure that I did not overload the paint nor press too hard.  The painting worked well.  I made the following conclusion:

TIP:   If you are painting caning and are changing the value (depth of color) dramatically (e.g, dark over light or light over dark), it will be hard to totally cover the original.  So,  unless this is the look you want, using a color that is closer in value to the original will be more satisfactory and require less work!

The chair was dropped off and I got both back over the weekend.  I looked at them from all angles and photographed them in my home.  Here are the results - see if you can see the OOPS!

After Chair - Number 1 - with Fabric on Back Replacing Caning.  

After Chair Number 2 with Silk Fabric.

I loved how well these turned out so much that it took me two days to see the mistake made on the rose plaid chair - the fabric is not placed correctly on the seat cushion. Any large stripe or plaid needs to be centered on the piece - and instead they had split the fabric along the stripe line shifting the entire pattern to sit non-symetrically on the piece. I brought back and they immediately saw it and apologized. Unfortunately, there is not enough left-over fabric to do seat cushion again so Mrs. Lee is trying to find replacement. Even great upholsterers make mistakes and mine is more than willing to bear the cost of new fabric and re-work.  So that is the OOPS - but not made by me!

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