A Sweet French Caned Chair That Was A Pain in the Seat

This French caned chair was supposed to be a quick and easy project!

Have you ever had a project that should have been super easy but just wasn’t? That is the story of this sweet French caned chair. I originally bought this chair for myself. It was a perfect chair for my living/sitting room in my last house. It is simply a gorgeous chair. The caning, the carved ribbon and medallions, and so many curves, the arms, the front apron, the chair rungs.

When my sister and I moved in together, we had to combine two households! Hard decisions needed to be made. This sweet chair needed to be rehomed. I decided to give it an upgrade. You can’t call this an upholstery project really. Its just a cushion and a paint job. Easy peasy!

It Started With Paint

I started with paint. A nice griege color, soft like this chair. All good so far. To highlight all the gorgeous details I applied a glaze finish. Here’s is where the trouble began. The water-based glaze made the paint peel. Ugh! I got frustrated with it. And set the chair aside as I had client work to do. 

But I kept looking at the finish. Its not that bad really, right? I mean it could sort of pass for a chippy distressed finish? Maybe? Yup, I think I’ll go with that. Better than have to strip and repaint. Just move forward. 

Now For The Cushion

I decided to work on the cushion. A curved boxed cushion that followed the shape of the chair seat. OMG! When I say this cushion didn’t really work out, I mean it was the wonkiest mess you’ve ever seen! How is it even possible to sew something together so badly. I mean I’m not exactly a beginner sewer! But box cushions are a little challenging to get right! So I set everything aside again. Thank goodness for client work. 

So Much Trouble

I got busy and the chair continued to sit, for almost a year. I had a little break in work and decided I just needed to push thru and get this chair done. So I pulled out my go-to clear topcoat finish to apply over my now ‘chippy distressed’ paint job. This clear topcoat is a matte finish. But not this time around, it turned out very glossy! Eek! I can only guess the topcoat was old and didn’t hold up well. Now I had a glossy chippy distressed paint finish! Not a good combination. Ugh! I am so over this chair. Back in the corner it went, wonky cushion and all!

Taking Control

I got busy again. Several months went by. But that chair continued to taunt me from its corner.  I had totally had it with this chair. But by goodness, I was going to win this battle. The day finally came to tackle this out of control situation. 

I sanded down the glossy surface and cleaned up all the chippy bits. Then I applied not one but two coats of primer, followed by multiple coats of paint, reglazed the details. All good so far. No chipping. I found another topcoat to use. My now go-to top coat, General Finishes Flat Out Flat Clear Topcoat. Voila! Success finally.

Encouraged, I pulled out that wonky cushion and got to work with the seam ripper. Now seam rippers are not usually thought to be our friends as they only come out when trouble strikes. But I like to think they are here to make the wrong right! And so I did, make the cushion right. 

Happy Endings

It took somewhere around a year and a half to complete this quick and simple French caned chair. I’m not even sure what exactly went wrong on some of the mishaps. I have instituted new paint procedures which include always priming a piece and finishing with my new favorite topcoat. I’ve also gotten quite a bit of practice on cushions. Oh yes, there is an awesome cushion tutorial by Cynthia Bleskachek of The Funky Little Chair here. Believe me when I say good instruction is instrumental in good learning.

You see whether you are painting, sewing or upholstering, there is always something new to learn. New products to explore, new techniques to try and practice. Sometimes it just takes practice! The French canned chair turned out super sweet, just as I had envisioned it! Sometimes you just have to take the long route home!

If you are interested in giving this sweet French caned chair a home, please check out my Etsy listing.