If you’ve followed me for while (even through this most recent move out of our MN home), you know that I’m pretty game to sell just about anything. I can’t tell you how many times Jeff has come home to an empty space where a piece of furniture once sat. He’s gotten to the point that he just shrugs and goes about his day. But there are a few pieces that I haven’t parted with, even with some pretty good offers being extended. Four of those pieces are the French chairs I’ve had in my PA dining room as well as my MN dining room. They were chairs that I hunted down for years, customized, and I can’t imagine myself selling them.
Since I got them years ago and they went through a slow transformation that was documented over several posts, I thought I would share the full story of these French dining chairs in one place for those who are interested.
I have been in love with balloon-backed French dining chairs for years. Maybe decades. I remember seeing them in magazines and decorating books and just sighing over them. I did cycle through a few modern reproductions that I bought and sold before I found these on Craigslist. They were exactly what I had been dreaming about and hoping for. These chairs had been overlooked because of the poor paint job in a color that didn’t quite suit the set. At $300 for a set of four vintage chairs, I knew they were just what I was looking for at a great price.
You just needed to see past the cosmetic issue and focus on those beautiful bones. And these are the real deal with hand-tied caning. They were worth the investment.
I found a local furniture stripping business that stripped the chairs for $50/each. I knew that these chairs would be an absolute beast to strip, so I hired it out. At that price, it was well worth it! When I picked up the chairs, the owner of the family-run business told me he would need to charge me more for these French cane chairs in the future because they were, indeed, a beast to strip.
I left the French dining chairs in their raw state for quite a while. I wanted to make sure I felt very confident about what I wanted to do with them before I dove into the project. They looked lovely raw, but some of the remnants of the old paint bothered me. It can look cool, but it looked a little smudgy in a messy way around the caning.
I wanted to try to preserve the natural color of the caning and paint the body of the chairs with a wash of
I started out by cleaning up the caning. I stained it in a , carefully brushing it into the crevices up to the wood frame.
I used a soft, lint-free cloth to wipe the stain on the remainder of the cane back…
That step alone made these French dining chairs look instantly better. It blended in any of the hints of old paint left during the stripping process.
I then applied a wash of onto the raw wood. Milk Paint is such an excellent paint for raw wood because it soaks into the grain of the wood like a stain. It allowed the beautiful joints and graining of the old wood to show through instead of coating it as most other paints would.
I left the one coat of milk paint “washy” so that you could still see the wood peeking through. When I paint or refinish an old piece of furniture, I don’t want it to look new and freshly painted. I want it to look like it’s always been that way.
To make the finish smooth to the touch and give the caning a slight gloss and richness, I finished the painted and caned sections of the French dining chair in (The product is now called . If you missed it, I sold the milk paint line in 2020, but I still love and use the products. HERE are all of the details about that.)
Can you even believe these are the same French dining chairs??
Let’s admire these pretty Frenchy details…
Oh, the fluting, the rosettes…
Yes. I am, admittedly, a furniture nerd.
So, I know from experience that cane seats can be problematic, especially with a house full of boys. They get punched through or start to sag with age and use. These caned seats were in excellent condition, so I wanted to protect them. They came with some custom cushions that were quite nice, but I wasn’t a big fan of the leather fabric. They were perfectly made for the chairs and comfortable, though, so I reused them and just made slipcovers for them.
Antique European grain sacks were a no-brainer for me to use as a material for making little skirts for these French dining chairs. I buy most of my grain sacks wholesale through a supplier, but I also love buying special pieces from .
I have made several slipcover tutorials over the years, but here are ones that would be the most helpful for making skirts for this style of chair…
HERE is an updated dining chair slipcover tutorial with a video showing the process. HERE is an older dining chair slipcover tutorial in pictures and written instructions.
We’ve used these French dining chairs and slipcovers for almost nine years now and they have held up very well and I still love them as much as the day I finished them.
When we moved, we sold everything in the dining room – the table, buffet, hutch, and , but I kept the French cane-back dining chairs with the custom slipcovers. (I also kept the chandelier!)
You can find more posts about dining room decorating HERE and more furniture makeovers HERE.
21 Responses
We are currently building our LAST forever home. I’ve loved your cane French chairs since I first found your blog in PA…years and years ago. I am waiting for some to be restocked in Wayfair. It’s the only place I seem to be able to find them. Any suggestions??? I want counter stools to match, which is why I’m willing to buy new vs trying my luck finding antique ones.
SOooo glad you didn’t sell your chandelier, I’ve loved that one the most out of all you have. Too bad mirrors don’t pack & move well. You’ll have fun replacing them!
Wish you would relocate to Maine! I totally understand & respect why you can’t.
Love your chairs too..don’t blame you for keeping them
Yes I too loved those chairs & remember them in your PA home also. I wanted to ask you where you purchased those Sq sm plates on your table. When I first saw them on your blog I imm.bought some from Pottery Barn but I know yours are antiques ?
You know what is important. These are. I also love them.
Marian, I love your chairs and the slip covers! You are so resourceful! I also love the mirror in your dining room. Lovely room!
Yes, please don’t ever get rid of that chandelier either, it is, in my opinion, one of your household icons!
Was fun to see and read about the journey of the chairs. They are beautiful!!!!
Will be exciting to meet their new table friend.
I am amazed that your cainning survived being stripped! I paid $160 last summer for a chair cained seat.So you have dodged a bullet there!
They are beautiful now as they were when you first refinished them! And has it been that long already? We are still using the X-back chairs you had prior to these as they fit perfectly within our spaces.
Yes, I loved those chairs, too! And yes, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long, but it has. I finished these chairs in 2013!
Very fortunate forever find! I also always loved those sitting next to the wall. Did you keep those?
Yes, I kept those, too!
I have the same feeling about my 60’s faux bamboo dining chairs. When I finally found a set, they were beige and had an ugly patterned upholstery on the seats. My husband lacquered them, and I recovered the seats. We also had to replace some of the caning as well which wasn’t fun. I adore these vintage Drexel chairs and they are made well so I dont think I could ever see myself parting with them since they also fit into my GM decor so well.
My goodness, you cannot believe how long I spent trying to find MMS Hemp Oil. I found some on Ebay, but could get no response from the shop owner. I wouldn’t have thought of Amazon, I don’t really shop there, but I finally found a hemp oil on Etsy, with an seller that responded. I finally stripped a hutch my FIL had made years ago but with that crackle finish from the early 00s, and now it’s a lovely warm wood again. 🙂
Your chairs are lovely. I appreciate your ability to let go of almost everything, it has helped me let go of some things I really did not need!
Karen
I loved this journey down memory land with the shots of your PA home! That picture of your dining room from the butler’s pantry is such a delight! Thank you for taking us through the chair renovation process again. I am always inspired !
Yay! I love a good old fashioned Milk Paint makeover!
I just had to comment because as I have mentioned a few time on this blog that I Love the dining room set that I bought from you when you were living in Virginia. Very similar and you made the muslin seat covers to cover up the gold velvet cushions on the chairs. I have thought about stenciling French designs on the seat covers, but have enjoyed everything as it is for many years. They came with me when I moved to Colorado and look beautiful. Your ability to “release” items is a quality that I am now working on as I downside some of my “treasures”, not the dining room set. I downsized from a 4500 sq ft house to an 1100 square foot apartment and am selling on etsy, Facebook marketplace and garage sales. I am finding that as I release items, it becomes easier to let things go. You have a real talent for being able to let things go so I’m using you as an example. It seems to be working, albeit slowly.
So glad I just found your blog. The chairs are lovely and I have 2 similar
(not antique) that I need to re-do. Can’t wait to read your info on the cushions
and see if I can do it, Thank you for all the wonderful info.
Blessings,
The French chairs are so lovely. You did an outstanding job with them! Also, love your slipcovers! Thanks for combining the post. So glad you kept them. They will be so unique in your new home, as they have been in your previous homes!
Thank you for this post, both informative and revealing! Loved reading about the former makeover on those beautiful chairs, but also loved getting a sneak peek into your new home’s style, with those chairs and perhaps some of your recent paintings of dog portraits and people portraits. Such fun! Best of luck on the new house and job.
I believe that these chairs can never go out of fashion. They give a both antique and modern look and are durable than the other wooden chairs. P.s I loved the slipcovers!