Happy Wednesday, friends! I’m taking a break from sharing our son and daughter-in-law’s beautiful home projects to bring you a darling vintage high chair makeover! Come see!
If you’ve been following along for a while, you know how much I adore antiques! Well, imagine my delight when I spied this vintage high chair at an antique store in Doylestown a few years ago. For just $29 I knew it had to come home with me! This is how it looked:
The chair had been painted white and decals added. The Mother Goose on the back of the chair was vintage-looking and cute, but the rest of the chair was in sad shape. The paint was peeling off and the entire chair needed to be stripped down to the bare wood. Mother Goose was not going to make the cut. Perhaps the reason for her dismay?
Likewise, the tray had baby animal and story book decals which were scuffed and peeling. Still, the high chair appeared to be sturdy and well made.
Shortly after I bought the high chair I started sanding it down. Then I got busy doing other things, plus we didn’t have any grandchildren at the time, so it went into my treasure room.
The chair stayed in my stash until this week. Our precious baby grandson, Ford, is just now sitting up on his own and starting to use a high chair. So, I decided it was time to dust off this vintage piece and finally refinish it for him. I pulled it out on Saturday and set up shop in our garage. I had this stripping gel on hand so I decided to use it. Using an old paint brush, I brushed on a thick coat of the gel all over the high chair.
After about an hour, this is how the back of the high chair looked. The stripping gel was melting off the old paint like a charm!
I used a metal scraping tool to remove the old paint. Getting the old paint off was especially tricky in all of the nooks and crannies. It was at this point I secretly asked myself if it was really worth it? Suffice it to say this is a messy job!
Once I scraped off all of the old paint, I wiped down the entire chair with mineral spirits. I let it dry overnight, then filled in the cracks with wood filler.
Then I sanded down the chair to remove any remaining paint and to further smooth the surfaces. The high chair was finally ready to paint!
It’s taken two days to paint because of the weather. I painted the underside first, and when it dried flipped the chair over to do the rest. I used a white, gloss spray paint and it took nearly two large cans.
This high chair looks pretty old. All of the moving parts are wood and screws. In all of my experience antique shopping, I’ve never run across a high chair just like it. It has a flip tray instead of one that fastens to the arms. And it has this cute little built-in foot rest for tiny feet, which is adjustable. Isn’t it the cutest?
The paint has finally dried and I absolutely love how this little high chair turned out! Because the high chair is vintage, it doesn’t have a seat belt, so I ordered a safety harness which slips over the chair and secures the baby. (since a little boy I know is a wiggle worm!) Also, I’ve ordered a monogram decal with our grandson’s initials to go on the back. (It should arrive in a week or so.)
And here is a before and after! What a difference! And if you ask me now if it was worth it? I’d say YESSSSS!!!
I can’t wait to see our adorable grandson in his vintage high chair! I think we will leave it at the lake house since the kids come here more often. Maybe I”ll search for another vintage high chair for the other house too?
What do you think? Are you a vintage lover too? What’s your favorite antique that you’ve bought and maybe refinished? Do tell! I hope you have a wonderful day. Let’s chat again soon? xoxo Dell
3 comments
I would have loved to see you put some new decals/transfers on the high chair. It would look so darling. 🤗
Hello Kevin! Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately I do not have a store so the risers featured were purchased online or at a box store. I’m sure if you googled it you could find some online or where to purchase. Goof luck! Hope this helps! Best Regards, Dell
Hi, Michelle! Thank you for your comment! I did actually add a decal with his initials. If you’d like to see it you can search the blog for “Monogrammed High Chair” Check it out and let me know what you think! Monogrammed High Chair!